Legendary Tamer 1: Rise of Darkness
by Black Knightmon
Summary: With the threat of Milleniumon on the rise, the Chosen Ryo and Ken do what they can to try and stop him. However other dark forces seem to have a stake in the battle with the Dark God as well.
1. Prologue

Legendary Tamer 1: Rise of Darkness  
  
By Black Knightmon  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own digimon, never have, never will.  
  
Prologue  
  
The grass was green all around, tall trees and beautiful flowers were everywhere. It was a great place, quiet, and yet full of life. He loved coming here when he had the time, it was so relaxing, especially for him. He was in fights and threats for almost all of his existence, sometimes it seemed it was his whole life. But here, away from everything, he could pretend, just for a little while, that nothing bad ever happened. Here he could let his guard down, as nothing ever came here.  
  
"Hello little one," the old man said, startling the blue lizard from his thoughts. Slowly, as not to show his uneasiness at not noticing the sudden arrival, he turned his head to the voice. " The name's V-mon, 'old one' ," the V-mon quipped, turning his head away to its original position. He sighed, knowing this wasn't a social call the old one was giving him. It probably meant he had another mission for the Victory Dragon. And here I thought I could finally take a vacation. Everything has been very quiet since the last big incident. Whatever was wrong now can't be as serious as that. " The reason I'm here," the old man said," is because there is work to be done."  
  
" No kidding," V-mon said dryly, " when is it ever not about work. So what is it this time, I'm on vacation you know. Can't you find someone else to do it."  
  
" No," the old man said sadly," I'm afraid there isn't anyone else."  
  
Curious as to why his old friend was suddenly so sad, something he never seemed to be before, V-mon stood up and turned around. " What's wrong Gennai? " V-mon asked, then smirked to lighten the mood, " did you got dumped or something and now you want me to teach the guy a lesson for breaking your heart?"  
  
He just couldn't resist making a joke, knowing they always made him laugh. He didn't joke often but when he did they were usually funny, or so he thought. But the look Gennai gave him was devoid of the usual cheerful spark that never left the old guys eyes. It was then that V-mon realized the situation might really be bad, like the Diablomon incident.  
  
" Gennai? What's wrong?" he asked with concern.  
  
" Something evil, very evil, is forming in digiworld. Something incredibly horrible and incredibly powerful, maybe even more powerful than the Harmonious Ones."  
  
V-mon couldn't help but gasp, how could anything be stronger than the Digital Gods themselves. Not even Diablomon had that much power. " H-how is that possible. What the hell is this thing?" V-mon asked.  
  
" We are not sure," Gennai confessed," but we believe it has to do with an ancient prophesy concerning the complete destruction of all we hold dear."  
  
V-mon never cared to much about prophesies, most of them were probably a lot of crap and could apply to almost any situation. Still, his work for the Harmonious Ones had made it necessary to study at least the "Apocalypse" prophesies. And one of these prophesies suddenly came to him.  
  
" You don't mean." he said, trailing off.  
  
" Yes, this might be the one, and if we don't stop it will be the end of us all."  
  
" But Gennai," V-mon said, " even I can't beat something like that. Why not call for the chosen, this is just up their alley."  
  
Gennai sighed, making V-mon realize they had already tried that and that it didn't work. " What happened?" He asked gravely, already dreading the answer.  
  
Gennai didn't answer immediately," the signals seemed to bounce back, that's why we think this is about the Dark One." " We can't contact the chosen, so we are on our own," V-mon added. At this Gennai seemed to smile for a moment, making V-mon very suspicious. How could anyone smile in a time like this?  
  
" Not exactly," Gennai continued," for while we can't contact the Odaiba Chosen we detected two other signals, not sent by us, getting through. That's why I came to you, V-mon. If the signals do reach Earth, then two inexperienced chosen will come here. They have no idea what they are up against. Your mission is to find the chosen and guide them. Go know, I'll contact you later when you find them."  
  
"Yes Gennai, I'm on it," V-mon said, already feeling where he needed to go. That was why he was the best, he always knew were to go. Turning around quickly he started running of towards the horizon, Gennai watched him go, before leaving as well. There was still a lot of work to be done and evil doesn't rest.  
  
  
  
Authors Notes: Well here it is, the prologue for Legendary Tamer. I hope you like it so far. Next chapter will feature the two new chosen and will give a hint about who the enemy is. 


	2. Welcome to Digiworld

Legendary Tamer 1: Rise of Darkness

By Black Knightmon

Disclaimer: I don't own digimon, never have, never will. 

Chapter One: Welcome to Digiworld.

Ryo's log: August 2000, Digiworld, somewhere on Sever apparently.

I can still hardly believe what happened today. It seemed to be a day like any other, just working on my laptop, when something incredible happened. My father gave me that laptop a year ago, by the way, and already it seemed a bit outdated. But I digress. So here I was working on my laptop, well not really working, more like surfing the web. I do that a lot, surfing the web, visiting message boards and stuff, but I seem to be digressing again. 

I was just posting a message, concerning the reports of those strange monsters that appeared in Odaiba, Tokyo in late 1999 and the monster on the internet a few months ago. They were named 

'Digimon' or Digital Monsters by some people and it's still a hot topic on some sites. For some reason many people don't remember anything strange happening. According to my dad it's just a crazy rumor made by lunatics, and that I shouldn't believe anything I haven't seen with my own two eyes. I failed to tell him that I *did* see it. There was a strange monster on the internet trying to kill us all and only barely was it stopped by another monster and a few kids. I remember sending them an e-mail, encouraging them. I still don't know why I did that. 

Since then I couldn't forget about what I saw that day. I have been trying to find out all I can about those monsters and these kids. I didn't find out much, a few bits and pieces, but nothing consistent. 

Anyway, today I read a post from someone calling himself the "Prodigious One" who seemed to know a lot about it. I was just about to answer his message when my computer screen lit up and an object shot out. It seemed like a tamagotchi-unit, but miraculously it resembled the picture of something called a digivice that the Prodigious One posted. After the device came out the screen turned back to normal. I held it close to the screen to match it to the picture, but as soon as I did that the screen lit up again dragging me in it. 

Now I'm in a strange world, the digital world, and I have no idea if I'll ever see my home again. I wonder if the Chosen that the Prodigious One mentioned ever felt like that. I can only imagine they did. 

End log. 

" Incredible," Akiyama Ryo, a twelve year old boy, said. _This guy really knows his stuff_. 

Normally the message board was filled with meaningless discussions concerning the origin of the monsters that appeared in Odaiba and on the internet. Many explanations bordered on the impossible and weren't even worth answering, but there were some that kept talking about a 'digital world'. Out of all the explanations this was the only one that Ryo believed. 

Some guy, he calls himself the Prodigious One, always had some interesting things to say about the creatures he calls digimon. Intrigued about the idea, Ryo had chatted at length to the guy about it. As it seemed that Ryo was the only one who seemed to take it seriously, the Prodigious One was more than happy to talk to him. 

This time he had posted something about digivices, he even supplied a picture. These things were evidently used to evolve the monsters into more powerful versions of themselves. Many of the regular users, real UFO freaks, were already flaming him about it. They thought it was a lot of crap, and that even to them it seemed too farfetched. Ryo disagreed with them and was about to reply when suddenly his screen started to light up. 

" Oh come on Osamu, let me play for once," a blue haired boy asked. He really wanted to try this new game his brother was playing. 

" Not now Ken," Osamu snapped, " this game is not for you. Why don't you go and watch TV or something." 

So caught up in his game Osamu didn't notice Ken turning sad. All Ken had wanted was to play with his brother, but Osamu never seemed to want to play with him. Didn't he like him? Was it his fault? 

Sighing sadly, Ken sat down on the floor behind his brother, watching him play. _Maybe he'll play with me later, I'll just wait here. If I leave and he wants to play than I will lose my chance. _

Ken looked around the darkened room, Osamu always wanted it dark so he could see his game better. Looking around the room he saw his brothers books. When he wasn't playing games or something, he was always studying. Osamu was a genius, his role model, their parents were always so proud of Osamu. Once he had tried to make sense out of Osamu's books but they were to advanced for him. If he could be as smart as Osamu, then maybe his parents would be proud of him too. Ken sighed, remembering the event quite clearly. Osamu had found out about the books and had gotten angry with him. Ken didn't like his brother being angry with him. 

The rest of Osamu's room was very ordered, a desk with a computer and his study books, his bed and closets. That was about it, nothing else was seen. Osamu always kept his stuff out of sight_. So I can't get to it_, Ken thought sourly. He loved his brother, but sometimes he was jealous of him, of all the attention he got from everyone, including their parents. Sometimes it felt as though they had forgotten about Ken. 

Getting a bit bored from sitting around, Ken got up and walked back to his brother. As he did this the screen of the computer started to turn brighter. Osamu gasped and moved back his chair from the computer, but Ken moved on. He felt unexplainably drawn to the computer and as if in trance approached it. As he came closer the screen just got brighter and brighter till all that could be seen was a bright, slightly blue-ish light. 

Fascinated by the occurrence Ken started to bring his hand to the screen, when suddenly something grasped his wrist to stop him. Upset that something stopped him from touching the screen he started to get angry and try to free his arm. 

" No Ken! Get away from there!" He heard someone say, his brother? 

Being dragged away from the screen by his brother, Osamu, he was starting to get back to his senses. The light also started do dim, then disappeared completely, leaving behind a small device. Pushing Ken behind him Osamu went for his desk and, almost hesitantly, picked up the device. Turning it around in his hand he wondered what it could do. 

" What is it Osamu? Can I see it, please?" Ken asked. 

Looking back at his brother, Osamu frowned at him. _Certainly not_, he thought, _you'd only break it_. 

Pouting a bit, Ken replied, " I won't break it, I promise. I just want to look at it." 

Osamu realized he had spoken his last thoughts out loud. Turning back towards his desk he opened the top drawer and put the device in it. He would study it later, when he had the time and when Ken wasn't around. 

Grasping the young Ken by his shoulders he whispered harshly to him. 

" This is not yours Ken, it's MINE, so stay away from it! You hear me! Stay away from it!" 

He then left the room and a sobbing Ken behind, not realizing how his words had hurt the boy. 

" Wow!" was all that Ryo could say when the light disappeared. In his hand he was holding a small device. It reminded him of an old Tamagotchi unit, but it couldn't be that. _Tamagotchi's don't come flying out of a solid computer screen. _

For a moment all he could do was fumble with the device in his hands, when he heard steps outside of his room. 

" Ryo? You called? Is everything alright?" He heard his mother say. Not wanting to explain about the device and the light just yet, _they'd think I'd gone mad, _he tried to think up an excuse. 

" Uhm, no mom, everything's fine. I just, uhm, was surprised I got a program to work. You know I always work on the computer, " he said nervously. Aside from the device, the last thing he would want his parents to know is that he was interested in 'Digimon' and right now his computer had several windows about it, opened. There was no way he could close them all in time if his mother decided to come in.

" Oh, okay dear. But you really shouldn't spend all your time behind that computer. It's not healthy." 

" Yes mom, " he said obediently as he heard his mother walking away again. 

With his mother gone he brought his attention back to the device in his hand. It seemed familiar, like he had seen it somewhere before. If only he could remember where, then maybe he'd find some answers. 

Not knowing what else to do he turned back to the message board, trying to remember what he was going to reply before the thing came out of the monitor. _What?_

The screen had changed, he was no longer at the reply page but in the main topic page. To be precise at the message from the Prodigious One concerning his first encounter with the Digital World, as he called that strange world. Apparently he was at summer camp when these things called 'digivices' came out of the sky. _Wait a minute, digivices?_

Scrolling a bit lower, he knew there was a picture of these digivices. Ryo gasped as he looked at the picture, it looked exactly the same as the device he held in his hand. _Could it really be?_

Involuntarily Ryo brought up the digivice and held it close to the screen to better compare it with the picture. But as soon as it came close to the screen, both the monitor and the digivice lit up, basking the room in a bright blue-ish light. 

" What the…" Ryo managed to say before being sucked in the computer. 

Traveling to Digiworld usually feels like a roller coaster ride, but know it felt like falling out of a plane at a hundred miles an hour, without a parachute. The trip seemed to last forever, but was over before it even started. 

Falling flat on his face with a loud thump, Akiyama Ryo entered the Digital World for the first time. Slowly getting up, rubbing his sore head, Ryo surveyed the area. He knew where he was, it could only be Digiworld, but he didn't understand how he got there. Or what he was to do now that he got there. _Maybe I'll be eaten by the monsters. _

" No," he said out loud," I can't let that happen. So what do I do know?" 

The area where he was in was a grass field, if it was indeed grass at all. Surrounding him were a couple of weird looking trees, but behind them all he could see was sand. 

" Great, I'm in a desert of all places," he said dryly. 

" That's what I thought as well, " an amused voice said behind him. 

Turning around abruptly, while taking a few steps back, Ryo saw a blue lizard-like thing leaning against an old fashioned television. 

" W-what are you? Are you really a digimon?" Ryo asked. 

The lizard smiled and took a few steps forward, crossing his arms. Ryo just stepped back a little farther. 

" Ah, so you know about digimon, kid. That's good, saves me some of the trouble of explaining things. Never really liked doing that anyway. The name's V-mon by the way," V-mon said. 

Realizing the digimon wasn't attacking him, Ryo stopped moving away. Curiosity was starting to get the better of him now that he was actually talking to a real digimon. 

" I'm Akiyama Ryo," he said," nice to meet you V-mon. Can you tell me where I am and what I'm doing here?" 

" Ah, straight to the point, I like that in a Chosen, " V-mon replied," you're in Digiworld, on the continent of Server. And as to what you're doing here, I think it is best if a friend of mine answered that question." 

" Server? Interesting name, but why can't you tell me why I'm here. And did you just call me a 'Chosen'?" Ryo questioned.

" Yes," V-mon answered," you're a Chosen, but my friend, Gennai, can explain it better. Something big is going on and you are needed. Now if you come with me, all your questions will be answered."

Not waiting for a reply V-mon started to walk of into the desert. Ryo followed him, not knowing what else he could do. The small oasis wasn't the place he'd like to spend the rest of his life and he didn't know his way around. Going with the blue lizard, V-mon, seemed like the best thing he could do. 

" So," Ryo said after a while," how far is this friend of yours? And how far does this desert go anyway?" 

" Only a couple hours in this directions, don't worry about it," V-mon said, "and this desert is called the Eternal Desert, it stretches out for miles on Server. Luckily we are near the edge and will soon get out of it." 

" Okay," Ryo said, thankful it was only a matter of hours before they'd leave the desert. It was getting kind of hot, but V-mon didn't seem to care about it. 

" Damn, I hate the desert," V-mon mumbled. _Oh, maybe he does care_, Ryo thought. He could learn to like this digimon. It was already hard to imagine that digimon like this attacked his world on several occasions. Walking alongside the blue lizard, Ryo couldn't help but wonder why he was needed. And just what it was that he was supposed to do. 

Authors Notes: This was it, the first chapter of Legendary Tamer. As you may have guessed, it's about Ryo's first adventure in digiworld. And if you guessed that you probably also guessed who the big enemy is. For those that don't know, you'll find out soon enough. 

Though this is based on the Wonderswan (spelling?) games featuring Ryo, not everything is the same. For one thing, the events in Anode/Cathode Tamers, never happened. Taichi and co never got kidnapped and Ryo isn't here to help save them with the help of Agumon. For any other changes you'll just have to read the story.

This is an alternate universe, but I still try to make it as close to the anime as I can. I hope you'll like it, and if you can, please review it. 

As a writer I always want to improve my skills and am always open to constructive criticism. You can also mail me at: black_knightmon@hotmail.com 

Flames will not be tolerated, just to let you know, so don't waste my time with having to read it and your time with writing it. Thank you. 


	3. Super old guy

Legendary Tamer 1: Rise of Darkness

By Black Knightmon

Disclaimer: I don't own digimon. I'm just borrowing them for a while.

Chapter Two: Super old guy

Ryo's log: August 2000, Digiworld, Server, edge of the Eternal Desert.

Well, I came to the digiworld using the strange digivice that popped out of my computer. It brought me to a small oasis in a large desert, appropriately called the Eternal Desert. There I met a blue lizard called V-mon, who was waiting for me. We then took of to some friend of his, a guy called Gennai, who will explain things to me. I wonder what's going to happen.

End Log.

The ground had turned green again a few hours after they had left the oasis. Ryo was glad they had finally left the desert behind. He didn't know what he found worse, the heat or the endless sand. For hours they traversed the desert, going up hills of sand and then down again, only to climb up again when they reached the bottom. For a long time the desert just didn't seem to end and then, slowly, things started to change. The dunes became less steep, then disappeared altogether, leaving a plain of sand behind. Now that they didn't have to climb sand dunes anymore they're speed increased. Then, appearing on the horizon, was a new color in the midst of the yellow sand. At first Ryo thought that he was imagining the green line, that the sun and heat had finally gotten to him. But the line started to get bigger the closer they got to it. When they had finally reached it, and Ryo could see it underneath his feet, he couldn't keep silent anymore.

" Ah," Ryo said," green grass at last!" 

" Indeed," V-mon replied," it will make the walking a lot easier. But make no mistake, we are still close to the desert and the sun will continue to beat down upon us for the remainder of the trip." 

" Damn," Ryo said, sighing, the sweat pouring down his face, " I was really hoping it would cool down." 

He looked down at his companion, " And how much further do we have to go anyway," he said, looking around him, " I don't see anything around here." 

" We don't have to go on much longer," V-mon said looking up at Ryo, _he did quite well in that desert, maybe there is hope for us yet._

" Just an hour in that direction and we should be there," V-mon continued, pointing to the horizon, before moving on. At the beginning of their journey to Gennai, V-mon had stressed that they should move as fast as possible, but that if Ryo needed a break he should just say so. So far they hadn't stopped once, which impressed V-mon a lot. They were already ahead of his estimated schedule. 

They traveled again for about half an hour without any trouble, when suddenly a cry was heard from the air. Looking up they saw a large red beetle flying towards them.

" What is that thing? " Ryo asked. 

" Oh no, it's a Kuwagamon," V-mon replied before jumping out of the way of the charging insect. It quickly turned around, but this time it went for Ryo. Seeing the monster coming towards him at high speed, Ryo just stood still, his life flashing by before his eyes. He knew he didn't want to die yet, there was still so much more for him to do. In a last ditch effort to save his life Ryo jumped aside, barely avoiding the creatures claws. 

Getting back to his feet he saw that the Kuwagamon had turned around again and was once again charging towards him. This time Ryo didn't think he could avoid the creature. 

Just as it was about to reach him, a blue blur slammed Kuwagamon in the side, knocking it away. Expecting to see V-mon, Ryo was surprised to see a much larger version of his traveling companion instead. 

"W-what happened?" he asked.

" I evolved, I'm now V-dramon," V-dramon replied, while landing a punch in Kuwagamon's face. Kuwagamon responded by barging his head in V-dramon's stomach, knocking the blue dragon out of the way. It then focused its attention back on Ryo, and with a snarl it attacked. 

" Die human! Power Guillotine!" it screamed in rage.

Everything seemed to slow down for Ryo as the Kuwagamon attacked him. Every step the monster made seemed to take forever as it charged him. Ryo couldn't keep his eyes off the creature, it became his whole world. Then he thought he could hear someone shouting, but it was only a vague sound in the background. 

Getting up from where the Kuwagamon had knocked him aside, V-dramon was greeted with a sight that nearly made his heart stop. Kuwagamon was nearly on top of Ryo, who had no way of avoiding the attack. _No! I can't let him be killed!_

" NO!" V-dramon screamed, " V-Breath Arrow!" 

Kuwagamon stopped only a few inches in front of Ryo, before bursting apart. Ryo looked on in shock as the particles of what was once a living being were blown away in the wind. V-dramon stood directly behind where the Kuwagamon used to be and stared at Ryo, wondering how the boy would react to the sudden death right in front of him. 

__

He is dead, he is dead, he is DEAD! Was all Ryo could think of, or was it, _I'm alive, I'm alive, I'm alive?_

He wasn't sure, maybe it was both. Never before had he come this close to dying, it was a humbling experience to say the least. But he lived, the enemy was dead and he lived. It was still pretty hard to grasp the concept, he had been so sure his life was over just a few seconds ago. 

V-dramon, noticing that Ryo was still standing catatonic, decided to devolve. Give the kid a somewhat less threatening face to look at. Being devolved into V-mon Ryo seemed suddenly a lot larger, but no less like a statue. He didn't know much about humans, but he did know that this wasn't good. Ryo seemed to be completely shutting out the world.

" Ryo? Are you okay? Hey Ryo!" V-mon said as he walked up to the boy. The first kill was always the hardest, V-mon knew, especially for these Chosen humans. Humans were very fragile creatures sometimes when it comes to life and death, he remembered hearing one time. He had to try to get the kid through it, or else all may be lost. And he just wasn't the mon to lose anything. 

" Ryo! Hey kid, snap out of it!" V-mon yelled, somewhat unfamiliar with the process of consoling someone as he was usually travelling alone. And you just don't console the enemy, so this would be his first time, and he had to do it right. 

Still a bit dazed Ryo looked down at the digimon standing by his feet. V-mon was glad he got at least some reaction from Ryo, but wasn't very happy with the empty look in the kid's eyes. The only thing in there was confusion, and V-mon understood what it was that got Ryo so shaken up, he had seen it before a long time ago. But he could only wonder at what Ryo was thinking right now, and how he could free the kid from this trauma. 

__

He killed him! He killed him to save me. No one had ever done something like this for him, take a life to save his. V-mon was a hero, and Ryo was more than thankful for it. He was lucky to meet such a brave digimon and was proud to be traveling with him, even if it may end soon. This event had shown him that digiworld can be very dangerous and that he too may die at any moment. If it wasn't for V-mon he would have been the one that was dead.

But another part of him suddenly saw V-mon in a totally different light. V-mon killed someone seemingly without effort and didn't seem sorry about it. _He has killed before and will do so again!_

Part of Ryo was appalled by how easy it was for V-mon to kill, but the other part of him was glad 

V-mon killed the monster. These two completely different states of mind kept fighting for supremacy in Ryo's head, when he suddenly heard V-mon shouting at him. He looked down at the, now small again, digimon. 

" Ryo, I understand this is hard for you, seeing me kill that Kuwagamon," V-mon started in a serious voice, " but you must understand that it was necessary. That digimon was trying to kill you, I had to help you. Please understand Ryo, that sometimes killing is unavoidable, as it was here. It was either him or us, and I rather have it be him than us, I think you can agree with that. I hope you can agree with that. I didn't like killing him, Ryo, but to save my friends and myself I will kill. Please understand Ryo." 

Ryo just stared at V-mon, thinking about his companion's words. He realized that V-mon was right, that sometimes it is necessary to kill. V-mon saved his life and for that he should be thankful and not hate him. 

" V-mon…" he started, slowly," I understand, it's just that…well. It's going to take a bit getting used to that's all. I've never been in a situation like this." 

" I know Ryo," V-mon said, soothingly," it wasn't that easy for me either, especially the first time, but you'll learn to adapt. You have to learn to deal with it, or it kills you too, slowly but surely." 

V-mon sighed, remembering his own shock the first time he had killed. It was to save a friend then too, but that didn't make it any easier. And to make it worse his friend had left him afterward. _I can't be friends with a killer like you, _was what she had said before leaving. He was just glad Ryo seemed to take it better than she did. 

" Do you want to rest here for a while before going on?" V-mon asked cautiously. 

Ryo thought for a moment, it would be nice to have a rest and sort his thoughts, but this place would just remind him of the dangers all around him, the killing that took place and the killings that he might need to make before all will be over.

" No, that's all right V-mon," Ryo answered," we only have to go a small distance before we reach this Gennai, right? Let's just keep going and rest there, must be more comfortable than out here in the open. Besides, I'd like to get some answers." 

" Sure thing," V-mon said, smiling, he was very glad to see that Ryo was dealing with this ordeal quite well. _It bodes well for when Gennai tells him about the severity of the mission. The apocalypse prophecies are serious stuff._

Leaving the matter of Kuwagamon behind, they continued traveling to Gennai's place. They remained silent for the remainder of the trip, both not knowing what else to talk about. About a half an hour after they had set foot again V-mon stopped. 

" We're here," V-mon said cheerfully to try and lighten the mood, which had become a bit oppressive. 

" Here? " Ryo questioned in surprise. Looking around all that he could see were grassy plains, there were no buildings or anything else that would suggest anyone living here. Where was this Gennai guy? 

" There's nothing here, V-mon." 

V-mon just smirked," Oh yes there is, you just can't see it." 

" Gennai is invisible? " Ryo said disbelievingly, " and he lives in an invisible house? Do you feel alright V-mon, or did that Kuwagamon scramble your brains." Ryo couldn't hide the sarcasm in his voice, and for a moment he feared for the digimon's reaction. 

But V-mon just laughed, finding the entire situation very funny. Ryo just looked at him in surprise and then annoyance, which made V-mon laugh even more. 

" In a way, yes," V-mon said after he stopped laughing, " the house is invisible in that it is hidden from prying eyes." 

V-mon pointed ahead of him before continuing his explanation of Gennai's hidden house. 

" It's called a digital barrier," V-mon explained," it hides certain areas. Very useful and impossible to detect unless you know it's there. Just follow me." 

V-mon took a step forward and disappeared into thin air, leaving an even more surprised Ryo behind. 

" Oh well, " Ryo said, shrugging. Taking another step he crossed the barrier and was suddenly somewhere else. 

What had appeared to be an empty grass plain in the middle of nowhere only a second ago, suddenly gave way to an outpost of civilization. 

Before him was a paved trail leading to a bridge, crossing what seemed to be a moot, encircling a small island. V-mon was already crossing the bridge, so Ryo just followed him. The bridge was made of wood and looked just like the old bridges in historical places like Kyoto. 

" Amazing," Ryo said, when he had crossed the bridge. He looked around him and saw that he was now in a garden. There were trees, bushes and even flowers. 

" What?" V-mon said," you look like you've never seen a garden before?" 

" Not a garden that was invisible just a moment ago," Ryo answered in awe," this digital barrier thing is truly amazing." 

" Yes," V-mon replied," it sure is. Come on, let's go to the cottage." 

Continuing along the garden path, they soon arrived at what V-mon called the cottage. However the term 'cottage' didn't do the house enough credit in Ryo's opinion. It wasn't very big, but it was made completely in an ancient Japanese style which just made it look incredibly beautiful in Ryo's eyes. It seemed like something from his home brought to this strange world. 

After taking a moment to take in his surroundings Ryo entered the house through an opened door, 

V-mon trailing close behind. 

Entering the house Ryo stopped dead in his tracks, for what he saw completely defied all sense of logic. He stood in a hallway that was longer than the house itself!

" What the…how can this be?" Ryo managed to say, then looked at V-mon for an explanation.

" Yes, " V-mon said with a smirk," our houses have a tendency to be a lot bigger on the inside. Come on, Gennai is waiting for us." 

Crossing the hallway, which seemed to consist of styles from many different cultures, they entered a normal, normal being a relative term in Digiworld, sized room. There were three big, comfortable looking chairs surrounding a table in the middle of the room. A short old man sat in one of the chairs and beckoned them to come closer, while he got up to greet them. 

" Ah, V-mon," he said," good to see you, and so soon already." 

" Yes, Gennai," V-mon said," we made excellent time, but unfortunately we were attacked by a Kuwagamon along the way." 

" Yes, I know," Gennai replied," most unfortunate but you made it out alright." He then turned his attention to Ryo, who was just standing there listening to the two old friends. 

" Welcome to digiworld, Ryo, I'm Gennai." He brought up his hand and Ryo shook it.

" You know my name?" Ryo asked in surprise after letting go of the old man's hand.

" Yes, I know who you are," Gennai answered, " but it doesn't matter how I know, just that I do."

He then turned around and went back to his chair to sit down. 

" Please," Gennai said, gesturing to the two unoccupied chairs," sit down, both of you." 

" Don't mind if I do," V-mon said before jumping on of the chairs and assumed a comfortable position. 

" Thank you," Ryo said before sitting down as well. 

" You must be hungry and thirsty after such a long trip. I've taken the liberty of preparing something for the both of you." Gennai pointed at the table which was filled with all kinds of food, from donuts to digital fruits, and three glasses filled with orange juice. Ryo wondered why he hadn't noticed the food before, but dismissed the thought. After all, the house was invisible too and maybe he was just too preoccupied to notice the food. "Why don't you eat while I explain why you were brought here. Feel free to ask questions at any time."

" I have one know if you don't mind," Ryo said," I've seen some digimon, like V-mon and Kuwagamon, as well as some in my own world, but you don't look like one. Are you a human like me?" 

"No, I'm human and not human at the same time. I guess you can call me Super Old Man or something like that, " Gennai said with a smile.

" Huh?" 

" Ha! Don't mind Gennai here, Ryo," V-mon said with a smile and several donuts in his hands. " Let's just say that he is Gennai. That was always enough for me. Damn, I love American junk food." V-mon began stuffing the donuts in his mouth. 

" You better have something to eat now, Ryo," Gennai said with a smile," else V-mon here will have eaten it all in a few minutes, make that, seconds." 

V-mon looked indignantly at Gennai for a moment, but he couldn't deny anything with all the stuff in his mouth and hands. He just huffed and continued eating.

Taking Gennai's advice Ryo picked up his glass and a donut and made himself comfortable. Gennai, seeing that Ryo was waiting for answers, started his explanation. 

" Ryo, we need your help. V-mon must have already told you that much. A little while ago, the Digital World started to get out of sync with the normal space-time continuum. Pretty soon the distortion will be complete and time here will stop. You can spend an eternity here and not even a nanosecond will have past on Earth. We found a reference to this in an ancient prophecy, concerning the birth of a Dark Digimon God." 

" A god? " Ryo said, not really liking where this talk was going. 

" Yes, a god. Or at least a digimon with enough power to be called a god. This digimon is so powerful that it can even distort the world when it isn't yet born in it. We called for the Chosen to help us, but because of the distortion we couldn't reach them. For some reason two signals did get through. One of these went to you, the other went to another." 

" Another? Who is this other?" Ryo asked.

" Till he gets to the digital world, I'm not really sure. But we'll get back to this later. Now, the signal brought you here and I decided to send V-mon to go and get you. The reason you are here, as you might have guessed, is to stop this Dark God." 

" I'm here to stop a god? " Ryo asked in disbelief. He had already expected that he was needed to fight, but not against a god. How was he supposed to go up against something like that?

" Yes, but he is not a god yet. Let me explain what I mean. In the prophesy there is mentioned that two digimon will form the god together. They obviously meant a Jogress evolution, in which two digimon fuse together to form a new, more powerful digimon. For now, the two digimon are still apart, and thus vulnerable to attack."

" But if the digimon can affect the world now, when it isn't born yet, doesn't that mean that it *will* be born. Otherwise we wouldn't be experiencing distortions, now would we," Ryo remarked. 

" No, I believe that it can be beaten. As to the case of the distortions, it's a very interesting paradox I will have to look into." 

" So who are these digimon that are going to fuse, Gennai," V-mon asked.

" The digimon in question are called Chimeramon and Mugen Dramon," Gennai said, looking at V-mon for a reaction. He didn't have to wait long, for V-mon was already choking on a donut he was eating. 

" But, Gennai," V-mon said after had recovered, " Chimeramon is a Perfection level, not to mention Mugen Dramon who is an Ultimate. How are we to beat something like that?" 

" What are these levels you're talking about. I had heard somewhere before that a digimon can change into a more powerful monster, and I saw V-mon do it, but what is the significance of these levels?" Ryo asked.

" There are several stages a digimon can achieve. It starts of as an egg, and when it hatches it's a baby, naturally. After that the baby goes to infant, then to child, adult, perfection and finally Ultimate. But the higher the level the harder it is to reach and it can take centuries to reach a stage as Ultimate. Many digimon never do." V-mon said. 

" As a power reference," Gennai continued," every stage is more powerful than the other as a human adult is over a child. V-mon here is a child, and his evolution of V-dramon is an adult." 

" But, these digimon we are up against," Ryo surmised, " are even more powerful that V-dramon. How can we possibly win against odds like that." 

" Normally we can't," Gennai continued, " but that's were you come in. You are a Chosen and a Chosen can bring his partner digimon to a higher level with the digivice." 

" Yes, I know this Gennai, someone named the Prodigious One, posted it once on the Internet." 

" Ah yes," Gennai said, " Koushiro's handiwork, potentially dangerous, but useful in this case." 

" Koushiro?" Ryo asked, this was the first time he heard a name for the Prodigious One, but more surprising than that was that Gennai knew of him, " you know him?" 

" Oh yes," Gennai answered offhandedly," he's a Chosen like you. Became one in 1999 with a few others to help us. They succeeded in their task, but it doesn't matter know, because we can't reach them. It's up to you now." 

After this statement it was quiet for a while as Ryo took in the meaning of Gennai's words. He had to fight, maybe together with another Chosen if he remembered Gennai's words about a second signal right. But who was his partner digimon? Could it be V-mon perhaps? 

" Gennai," Ryo started," who is my digimon partner? "

At his question Gennai looked away for a moment, surprising even V-mon. 

" Your partner," Gennai said, a bit hesitantly. " Is unknown. I have no idea who, what or where he is." 

" But how is he to help us then Gennai," V-mon asked," if he doesn't have a digimon of his own." 

" It's in the prophesy, about a partner-less Chosen. But unless Ryo has a partner it does seem hopeless. So, until Ryo finds his partner, it will be your mission V-mon, to be Ryo's temporary partner. By officially becoming Ryo's temporary partner, the digivice will react to you, and you might be able to reach a higher level." 

" But still it seems almost impossible, even if V-mon evolves," Ryo said dejected. 

" Ha! " V-mon said suddenly, " why are we even having this discussion, Gennai. The only Mugen Dramon in digiworld was destroyed by Taichi's Wargreymon a year ago! So there can be no fusion!" 

V-mon was only happy for a little while, and then Gennai spoke, putting out his hopes again. 

" I'm sorry V-mon, but you are wrong. A while ago, in the ruins of what was once the city of Mugen Dramon, the Dark Master, a Gigadramon has evolved. There is once again a Mugen Dramon in Digiworld." 

" Oh no, " V-mon exclaimed.

" But this Mugen Dramon doesn't really matter does it? I mean, the Chimeramon is a lower evolution level. Wouldn't it be better to go after that? " Ryo said. 

" It might seem better," Gennai replied, " but we have no idea where Chimeramon is. Chimeramon's disappearance makes us suspect that he will be the one to initiate the fusion. Since we can't find Chimeramon we have to destroy Mugen Dramon. We have at least one advantage over the Ultimate. He has only recently evolved and doesn't yet know the full extend of its powers. This is the time to bring it down and with Ryo's help I believe we can do it." 

Gennai and V-mon turned their gaze on Ryo. 

" Will you help us Ryo," Gennai asked.

" Do I really have a choice, " Ryo said dryly. 

" Of course you do Ryo," V-mon said," you can decide not to help us. We will not stand a chance in that case and all, including you, will more than likely die. If you help us, we do stand a chance and if successful you can go home after the distortion has gone away. So Ryo, what do you say." 

Ryo looked to V-mon, then to Gennai. He knew what he had to do, even if it seemed suicide just to try it. But if he didn't this world would be destroyed and he was pretty sure the Earth was soon to follow. He had no choice and he knew it. Ryo sighed, coming to his decision. 

" I will help you, " he said, feeling suddenly very tired, the weight of the entire thing, combined with the day's ordeal finally got to him. 

" Thank you Ryo, " Gennai said," now, maybe you would like to rest. I imagine it's been quite a day for you. There's a room for you down that hall, we can talk about this some more tomorrow, before you have to set out again." 

" Yes," V-mon added," I think that rest is in order. It's going to be a long day tomorrow." 

Authors Notes: 

The evolution levels I use are the Japanese ones ( just like about everything else) . From Japanese to American the levels are as follows: Baby = Baby or Fresh ; Infant = In-training ; Child = Rookie ; Adult = Champion ; Perfection = Ultimate ; Ultimate = Mega. 

A note about the timeline of Legendary Tamer, concerning a review I got. It said: 

"I thought there wasn't any Gennai in 02" 

It was a review for the prologue, when there wasn't any date given yet. Now that the date *is* given, the need for this explanation is probably non-existing, but I'll give it anyway. Wanted to put a note about the timeline in the Authors Notes of some chapter anyway. This just makes it a bit sooner than anticipated.

In Digimon 02, Gennai only appeared late in the season. My guess is he couldn't help the chosen before that time because he was busy deleting all the information about Digiworld from human computers. But that doesn't really matter for this fic yet. 

For it is now August in the year 2000, about a year after the chosen defeated Vamdemon, the Dark Masters and Apocalymon. The events in 02 didn't start until April 2002 so Gennai isn't erasing data yet.

Also, somewhere in the year 2000, Gennai called the chosen to Digiworld to release their crest power to raise a barrier protecting Digiworld from evil ( as seen with the Kaiser, this didn't work exactly as planned). When this happens, Gennai is still an old man, as he is in this story. 

I hope this explains things.

Now for something else about Gennai, concerning this chapter.

In the first season of the anime, when the chosen went to Gennai's house it was located under water, whereas I have placed it in a grass plain near one of the edges of the Eternal Desert. I would just like to say, to avoid any confusion, that it is *not* the same house. Gennai has more than one and even more than two houses in Digiworld. This house stands close to where Ryo entered Digiworld so it would make sense to use it instead of his underwater house. 

Koushiro is the Prodigious One. He was trying to form an Internet community of people who knew about digimon. After the Diablomon incident he hoped that by informing people about digimon he could prevent the problems they had with Diablomon ( e.g. the emails they got, slowing their digimon down). After a while though he will come to realize that this method isn't working as only a handful of people actually believe him. And when governmental figures tried to uncover his identity and how he got this information, he decided it would be better to stop. Feeling a bit embarrassed at his failure he never told anyone about it. The information he posted was one of the first things Gennai erased, by the way, when he began his cover-up mission. 

I prefer the use of the Japanese names for the characters and digimon, if I know them. I also write them like the Japanese do, with surname first and then the given name. Example: Akiyama Ryo instead of Ryo Akiyama. I don't know the original (Japanese) attack names for the digimon, so I'll just be using the dubbed ones.

For those of you who aren't familiar with them I will give a short list of those names that are different from the American ones and who appear in my story. This time I will state the names for the characters that appeared in this chapter and the ones before. From the next chapter and onwards I will only state the names of characters/digimon that have appeared in that chapter. Also from that moment on, I won't be mentioning names that are only different because the surname is written before the given name.

Japanese to English: Akiyama Ryo = Ryo Akiyama ; Ichijouji Ken = Ken Ichijouji ; 

Ichijouji Osamu = Sam Ichijouji ;V-mon = Veemon ; Diablomon = Diaboromon ; 

Izumi Koushiro = Izzi Izumi ; Mugen Dramon = Machine Dramon ; Chimeramon = Kimeramon.

As a writer I always want to improve my skills and am always open to constructive criticism. Aside from the review function on Fanfiction.net, you can also mail me at: black_knightmon@hotmail.com 

Flames are still not tolerated and as far as I'm concerned they never will be. 

To those of you who have already made a review, thank you. 


	4. On the road again

Legendary Tamer 1: Rise of Darkness

By Black Knightmon

Disclaimer: I don't own digimon, I'm just borrowing them for a while.

Chapter Three: On the road again

Ryo's log: August 2000, Digiworld, Gennai's house, near the Eternal Desert.

Gennai was not what I had expected him to be, but then again, who ever is completely what you expect him or her to be? Gennai explained the situation to me, an impossible situation. Two digimon, both stronger than V-mon, my temporary partner, are going to fuse into a digimon with the power of a god if I don't stop it. How am I to do this? It seems to be a suicide mission, but if I don't then I'm dead anyway, so what choice do I have. 

The two digimon in question are a Perfection level digimon, called Chimeramon, and an Ultimate called Mugen Dramon. We are supposed to go after the latter, as Chimeramon's whereabouts are unknown to Gennai. When we find him, we are supposed to kill him and this saddens me. From what I heard it's the Chimeramon that's after the fusion to become a god, not the Mugen Dramon. I don't know, maybe the Mugen Dramon is a true monster, that might make it easier to kill him, but for all I know it's just an innocent creature. Oh well, I seem to have no choice in the matter. Mugen Dramon must die and soon, for if Chimeramon reaches him before we do, all will be lost. It's gonna be a tough fight with just Mugen Dramon and I don't think we stand a chance against the fused digimon god. Sigh, I hope we complete our task before Chimeramon makes an appearance. And after Mugen Dramon, we have to destroy Chimeramon, just in case another Mugen Dramon comes into being later, and all of this will start again. 

After I told Gennai and V-mon that I'd help them, Gennai adjourned our meeting and I retreated into a bedroom Gennai supplied for me. I was tired, the long trip through the desert, the attack by Kuwagamon and Gennai telling me I have to face up to a god, all contributed to my fatigue. Still, with all the excitement I didn't think that I would be having much sleep. I was glad to see that I was wrong as I slept almost instantly and right through to the morning. 

Now, at the beginning of my second day in Digiworld, I will be setting of on my mission, to save the world. 

End log.

" Good morning," V-mon said cheerfully when Ryo came out of his room. He was already sitting at the same table as the day before, eating his breakfast. Ryo went to a chair and sat down as well. 

" Good morning yourself, V-mon, " Ryo said," I see you've started breakfast without me. So, where's Gennai?"

" Oh, he's in his garden. We will go and talk to him after breakfast," V-mon then continued eating his breakfast. 

Seeing that V-mon's full attention was now focused on eating, Ryo decided it would be for the best if he too started breakfast and ask questions later. The food did look very appealing and who knows when he'd have a chance of eating something like this again. Besides, if yesterday had been any indication of V-mon's appetite, the food on the table wouldn't last long. If he didn't start eating now there would soon be nothing left for him to eat. 

He was half way through his breakfast when his resolve about not asking questions wavered. Something about the mission bothered him and he really wanted to talk to V-mon about it, see what his companion thought about the matter. 

" V-mon, " Ryo started, " can I ask you a question?" 

" S're fing, Wyo," V-mon said, still with his mouth full. 

" Ah, okay," Ryo said hesitantly," it's just that I was thinking about that Mugen Dramon. Maybe…I was wondering… could it be that we are going to kill an innocent digimon just because it exists. I understand that we must, but I was just wondering." 

V-mon took another bite of his sandwich and swallowed it before taking another bite, a thoughtful expression lay on his face. Ryo just waited patiently, till V-mon was done. He didn't want to rush his new partner into anything and it could be that V-mon didn't want to talk about it. V-mon finished his sandwich before answering Ryo's question.

" I can understand your concern Ryo, and I too would be having second thoughts about it if this digimon were innocent, but it isn't. I'll explain to you how I know this. First of, I'll have to say something about digimon in general. We are divided into three types; vaccine, data and virus. Vaccines are generally good, only a small percentage is evil. Data types are neutral and one of them going evil or good, is about fifty percent either way. Virals, " and here V-mon hesitated briefly," now they are evil. They care nothing of others and would do anything for power. I'll admit that a small percentage is good, but this is even rarer than an evil vaccine. Mugen Dramon," V-mon stopped for a moment for dramatic effect," is a virus. This fact, combined with the fact that it's an Ultimate makes for enough proof that the Mugen Dramon is evil. There has never been a good, viral Ultimate as far as I know." 

" Secondly, I spoke to Gennai about the Mugen Dramon for a moment this morning, when you were still sleeping. Gennai has managed to track down the Mugen Dramon's history. Now apparently this Ultimate used to be a Gigadramon, who worked for the previous Mugen Dramon, the Dark Master. 

Gigadramon and his partner Megadramon almost completely destroyed a city in order to kill the Chosen. Gigadramon was a monster, an evil monster that now has evolved into an even bigger evil. Even if this whole fusion thingy weren't happening he would have had to be stopped sooner or later. We are lucky that it is sooner, in that he isn't up to full strength yet. Do you understand Ryo?" 

" Yes," Ryo said, " thanks V-mon, I guess I really needed to know that." 

" I understand kid," V-mon replied," think nothing of it. It hasn't been easy to kill for any of the Chosen. And they only did it to protect themselves when they were attacked. Not many of them purposefully went after a digimon with the sole intent to kill it, certainly not in the beginning. Just finish your breakfast, we'll go to see Gennai soon." 

After breakfast they sought out Gennai in the garden. They finally found him sitting under a tree overlooking a small pond. 

" Good morning Ryo," Gennai greeted when he saw them approach, " slept well I hope? " 

" Yes, I did," Ryo answered, " thank you for the accommodations."

" Ah, it's nothing Ryo," Gennai said, " come and sit here for a moment. There are some more things you need to know before you can go." 

Complying with Gennai's wishes, Ryo sat down in front of him. 

" Now, the first thing you should do, is find the second chosen…" Gennai started. Ryo listened carefully as Gennai gave him and V-mon the directions. After they had found the second Chosen they would be contacted by Gennai again. 

The sun continued to beat down upon the desert and the grass plain bordering to it. A slight breeze made the grass move around a bit. The plains were empty, as most digimon preferred to stay away from the Eternal Desert and the neighboring plain. But now, three figures could be seen journeying through it. 

Two small figures floated on either side of the third one, the only one of them who was walking. The figure flying on the left looked like a hamster with bat wings for ears, which it used to stay in the air. It resembled the Chosen digimon patamon, only this one's color was a deep, dark purple and is called Tsukaimon.

The digimon flying on the right didn't have wings, or any other appendages used for flying. It looked like a large, purple ball with arms and legs attached to it. A lightning bolt sat atop his body, which was also his head. This digimon went by the name of Thundermon. 

" So why are we here? " Tsukaimon asked, being quite bored with the entire situation. Not only was the sun very hot and the scenery hadn't changed in hours, but they were all alone with no digimon to pick on. 

" Yeah, it's boring," Thundermon replied. 

" Oh be quiet," the third figure said angrily. His two companions had been complaining off and on for the last couple of hours and it was getting to him. Unlike his companions he couldn't fly, but that didn't really bother him. He looked like a large purple bunny, standing on two feet. He wore a lose-fitting, orange fighting suit with a black belt and spikes attached to his shoulders. On his hands were red gloves with big, iron claw-like things attached to it. On his forehead were three, small protruding horns and he had very large ears, which allowed him to stay in the air for a few seconds when jumping real high.

" Geez, Turuiemon, calm down will you," Tsukaimon said. 

" Yeah, we didn't mean anything by it, we're just a bit bored you know." Thundermon added.

Neither of them had understood why their leader wanted to trek trough this barren wasteland. They were doing well in their little mountainous district. 

" Listen, guys," Turuiemon said," I know there is nothing here, but I've heard there are big settlements of digimon on Server and I plan to visit them all. And then we'll show them why we are the Terrible Trio, the baddest gang of digimon around!" 

The others cheered, Turuiemon's idea did seem good. With more digimon around they could have more fun. But they were still bored now and Turuiemon knew he wasn't feeling very happy either. The journey was uneventful and he'd expected to have found some digimon hours ago. He hated to admit it, but he was missing his home too and silently considered going back. However he didn't want to lose face to his two friends by admitting he was wrong. He was the leader after all, and just couldn't be wrong. It was then that he noticed two black dots moving in the distance. Could it be that he had finally found some digimon to terrorize?

Meanwhile in the distance the two dots continued on their way. After they had finished talking to Gennai, Ryo and V-mon left the hidden house. Gennai had informed them that the second Chosen was going to appear in a place called Primary Village on File Island, quite a distance away from their present location. Luckily, a gateway to File Island was in a village a few days travel to the north. 

" Do you know this village, V-mon," Ryo asked, curious as to what digimon could be living in a village and what a digimon village would actually look like. 

" Not really, I hardly come to these parts anymore. And I didn't pass through it when I was looking for you. But I'm sure the locals will be nice." 

" Yeah, I hope they are, " Ryo said.

" Thunder Volt!" was shouted before a bolt of electricity flew into the ground in front of them. Ryo and V-mon jumped away from where they were standing and tried to make it less easy for whoever was attacking to hit them. It wasn't before long when V-mon spotted a round figure levitating in the air just a few meters away. 

" Ryo! It's over there," V-mon shouted while pointing the digimon out to Ryo. V-mon then proceeded to close the distance between him and the Thundermon, an adult digimon. Not something to be taken lightly as a child, but he knew he could get to adult at any time. If he got close now, he just might surprise the attacker. 

" Come on, little one, " the Thundermon mocked, " try and get me!" 

Provoked into attacking V-mon suddenly lunged forward, but the Thundermon just scooted out of the way in the air. It started shooting electricity at V-mon, but he just dodged them. 

" Come on, stand still," Thundermon said, already feeling very annoyed by this child.

" Why don't you stand still, damned Thundermon," V-mon replied. 

Neither of the two digimon seemed to be able to hit the other, V-mon was to fast and Thundermon was just out of jumping reach_. To bad I don't know any long distance attacks in this form_, V-mon thought, _maybe it's time to evolve_.

" Why are you attacking us!" Ryo yelled at the attacking digimon. Unlike the Kuwagamon from yesterday, this one didn't seem quite as ravenous as the big insect. The insect was probably hunting them for food, but this one seemed to do it just for fun. The reply startled Ryo, not because of what was said, but by the one who said it. Behind Ryo stood another digimon, this one reminded him of a bunny, a purple bunny in fact. 

" We do it because we can. It's a lot of fun scaring you all like this," the bunny said. 

" Who the hell are you," Ryo questioned harshly while moving away from the digimon. V-mon was already busy and wouldn't be much of a help to him now. 

" I am Turuiemon, " he answered," and that there is Thundermon and Tsukaimon. We are the Terrible Trio!" 

__

Tsukaimon? V-mon thought suddenly as he heard Turuiemon speaking to Ryo. The next thing he knew was slamming to the ground when something hit him in the back. Rolling further on the ground he just barely avoided another electric attack from Thundermon. Getting back up on his feet he started jumping to the side again, al the while keeping the two digimon, Thundermon and Tsukaimon, in his sights. From the corner of his eyes he saw that the Turuiemon was quickly approaching Ryo, who had no way of defending himself against an attack. _I have to evolve and finish this quickly._

V-mon just stopped avoiding the attacks and looked at the attackers in anger. For a moment they wondered what the blue lizard was going to do and in their surprise they forgot to attack. 

" V-mon evolves to…" he shouted as a blue light engulfed him. He could feel his body change, reformatting into something bigger, something stronger. When the light subsided only a few seconds after it began, a large horned dragon was standing in the place of the child. 

" V-dramon!" 

V-dramon wasted no time and attacked the Thundermon head on. Firing his V-breath Arrow before it could react. The attack knocked out Thundermon in an instant.

Tsukaimon gasped when he saw his friend go down in one attack by the dragon. He then realized he was next, but since he was a child he couldn't hope to win. V-dramon was in front of him in a split second and punched him to the ground. He hit it with a loud thump, then everything went black.

Having knocked out both Thundermon and Tsukaimon, V-dramon looked over at Ryo and Turuiemon. The digimon was staring at him, having forgot all about Ryo when his friends were being taken out of action. 

" You'll pay for that," Turuiemon said, having overcome some of his shock. Ignoring Ryo altogether he lunged forward at V-dramon intend on taking revenge for his friends. Nobody ever did this to them and he wouldn't let an overgrown lizard defeat the Terrible Trio. Closing the distance between him and the enemy, Turuiemon brought his fists back and prepared to strike.

While Turuiemon advanced V-dramon just stood still and watched the purple rabbit lunge at him. The moment his opponent brought back his fists to strike he knew his time had come. Taking a quick step forward he punched Turuiemon in the face before he could react. 

Dazed by the attack, Turuiemon stumbled back but didn't go down. V-dramon prepared his finishing move when he heard Ryo call to him. 

" Don't kill him V-dramon, let him live." 

" V-breath Arrow!" V-dramon shouted and fired at Turuiemon. The blast hit the dazed digimon head on and Turuiemon fell to the ground, knocked out but not deleted. 

" You're lucky runt," V-dramon said to the unconscious form lying at his feet. " It could have been a lot worse." 

Devolving back in his V-mon form, he left the three digimon behind and walked back to Ryo. Together they continued their trek through the plains. The attack had cost them some time, even it was only a few minutes. They hoped to be more than halfway through the plains by the time they had to stop for the night. 

" What was that all about, V-mon," Ryo asked. 

" Don't know kid, probably just some rookies looking for some fun. To bad they were weak as hell." 

" Oww," Turuiemon mumbled," what hit me?" _That lizard sure packs quite a punch, have to be more careful next time._

Surveying the area, he saw that his friends were starting to come to as well. He wondered for a second why they were still alive. For a moment he had feared their lives where over, deleted by a ravening blue dinosaur. Speaking of which, both the lizard and the human had left, but he could still smell their trail. He smiled, but then grimaced in pain. That blow to the head wasn't agreeing with him. 

Standing up, albeit a bit wobbly, he went over to his two friends, who where lying close together. 

" Get up you guys," he said when he came close enough, still rather silently. 

" Oh, man, that hurts," Thundermon said as he got on his feet, but immediately sat down again. 

" Tell me about it," Tsukaimon added in pain, " so what's next?" 

" We are going to get back at them," Turuiemon said with conviction, already a plan was forming in his aching head. They would strike tonight and this time they wouldn't be stopped. 

Night was falling rather quickly as V-mon and Ryo tried to find a comfortable place to spend the night. After all the attacks they had suffered while on the plains they weren't very happy with staying in the open, especially at night. Luckily for them V-mon spotted a dark spot in the light of the setting sun and he pointed it out to Ryo.

" Ryo, let's go over there." 

The dark spot was a bit further away than either of them had thought and by the time they were close enough to see what it was the sun was almost completely gone. It took them another five minutes to reach the small outcropping of trees. There weren't a lot of them, but it was enough to keep them out of sight and maybe even risk lighting a fire. Darkness was descending rapidly with only a couple minutes of light left. The moon was already shining, but somehow the light seemed dulled down, giving it an eerie feeling. 

Ryo and V-mon moved around the trees quickly trying to collect enough twigs and branches to make a fire. While they searched and made a pile of the wood everything became dark around the plains. 

On a nearby hilltop three figures where watching their prey go into the small forest. The trees would hide the two from sight, but it would also make it a lot easier for them to sneak up on the unsuspecting travelers. 

" When do we attack Turuiemon?" Thundermon whispered. 

" We will attack in a few hours, when they are asleep. Then we come in and steal their stuff, that ought to show them they shouldn't have messed with us." Turuiemon answered. 

" But," Tsukaimon started," weren't we the ones who attacked them?" 

" Shut up, Kai," Thundermon almost shouted," we are going to make them pay for beating us up, and if they resist we are going to delete them!" For a moment Thundermon doubted if he could delete them, he had never done it before, but for the sake of the gang and their reputation he figured that he could. 

Tsukaimon had similar doubts, if it would come to fighting he would do his best but he too had never killed before. All the things they had done were rather innocent compared to that, they had frightened people, stolen from people and even attacked people, but never killed or hurt them that they needed medical treatment. Today, however, that may change and Tsukaimon didn't know if he could really go on with it. Today it would stop being fun and games. 

" No," Turuiemon suddenly said, startling the others out of their thoughts, " we will not delete them. When they were beating us up they let us live, even though that dragon could have deleted us in an instant. I saw it in his eyes, he has killed before and will do that again. But for all intents and purposes they let us live and therefore we shall let them live. It is the honorable thing to do." _And even after all we've done, I still have a sense of honor_.

Hearing this relieved the others and they went back to observing the forest, when a flash of light caught their attention.

" So what now, V-mon," Ryo asked after they had made a pile of the lumber. It had become quite dark, but he had no idea how to light the wood. 

" Now we light it," V-mon said with determination. He took a few deep breaths and started glowing. 

" V-mon evolves in…." The light started to engulf him totally before expanding in size. When the light cleared V-mon's larger form occupied the clearing. " V-dramon." 

He turned his head down towards the wood and then smirked at Ryo, forgetting for a moment that in the darkness Ryo couldn't see him. _Oops, stupid_.

" Ah, I see," Ryo said, realizing what his friend had in mind. 

" V-breath Arrow." 

A low powered blast set the wood on fire, basking the clearing in it's light. Seeing that his work was done, V-dramon devolved back to V-mon and sat down against a nearby tree watching the fire burn. 

Ryo followed his example and sat down as well. 

" They made a fire," Thundermon stated, looking at the faint glow coming from the trees. 

" Yes, so what do we do now," Tsukaimon asked and looked at Turuiemon for an answer. Turuiemon looked at the small forest for a few moments. With the fire going, they would have a better view when they attacked, but so would their opponents. Furthermore, the fire could momentarily blind them in their attack, as they had to move towards the fire. Still, if they took a few moments to get used to the light before they attacked it wouldn't blind them. 

" We move closer to them, very quietly. Then we take positions to surround them and we wait till they are asleep. In the meantime we let our eyes get adjusted to the flames. You got that?" 

The others quickly agreed, Turuiemon always came up with the plans. Thundermon thought himself not smart enough to make plans and Tsukaimon just got to nervous when he had to make up a plan, fearing it would fail. So that just left Turuiemon and he wouldn't let the others down. They needed a plan? He'd give them a plan, no matter how farfetched sometimes. This time, however, the plan was absolutely perfect. Just wait for them to go to sleep and then mug them before they could react, just a quick hit and run. There was absolutely no way it could fail.

" Let's move guys," Turuiemon said, then started moving to the forest as close to the ground as he could to avoid detection. The others followed suit. 

An hour later and neither the human nor the lizard had fallen asleep, they were still talking to each other about the days events. Or what they *said* were the days events, Turuiemon found some of it hard to believe, especially about this god thing. _They are totally nuts_, he couldn't help but think. 

He really hoped they would go to sleep soon, the guys were beginning to get restless, he could feel it. So far, they were still together, watching their opponents through a dense bush. They would split up after the prey had gone to sleep and make a quick strike. 

" So, V-mon, about those three who attacked us earlier." The boy, or Ryo as the lizard called him, said.

" You really took care of them, didn't you?" 

Realizing they were talking about them, Turuiemon started paying more attention to the conversation. So far he didn't like what he heard and neither did Thundermon and Tsukaimon. 

" Ah, they were a piece of cake Ryo, I could have taken them in my child form but we needed to hurry. Take that weak-ass Thundermon for example." V-mon stated.

" What!" Thundermon hissed and was already moving forward, before being grabbed by Tsukaimon and Turuiemon. The latter quickly placing a hand on Thundermon's mouth, silencing him. With the two of them holding the angry digimon down. 

" Be quiet or they'll hear us," Turuiemon whispered, " we'll get them back, don't worry." 

With Thundermon calmed down, they tried listening in on Ryo and V-mon again. In the struggle they had missed the things being said about Thundermon. 

" And then there is that pansy of a Tsukaimon, " V-mon continued. A quick glance on Tsukaimon was all Turuiemon needed. Both him and Thundermon had to hold the angry child down, with Thundermon keeping Kai's mouth shut. _Damn it, this isn't going well, hope they don't hear us_. 

They soon had the situation under control again and Turuiemon checked to see if anything had changed in the scene in front of him. It would be bad news if they had been discovered. Luckily this wasn't the case and as the conversation progressed, he knew that they would soon get to him. 

" Lastly there was that stupid bunny, Turuiemon, " V-mon said, as if on cue. Thundermon and Tsukaimon looked over at him, expecting to see a burst of anger as they had shown only a few moments ago. But they were surprised when all that Turuiemon did was smile. He had known they would also mention him and had sworn to himself not to act. Anger didn't solve anything here and by just sitting in peace he wouldn't lose face to the others by snapping at these petty insults. 

After that the two by the fire discussed what they were going to do the next day, apparently there's a village close by. _I knew it! We are so close to fame and fortune! Our reputation will skyrocket!_

" I hope they will let us use that portal, V-mon," Ryo said. 

" I'm sure they will Ryo, I'm sure they will. Why wouldn't they? We mean them no harm at all." V-mon answered. " So they have no reason to deny us the use." 

" You're probably right V-mon," Ryo said," I'm just a bit nervous, I guess. Oh well, if Gennai's right than we might meet that other kid soon. I must say I can't wait." 

" Yeah, a little re-enforcement will be neat. Though I'm sure we will be able to handle it." 

" I hope so V-mon, I..yawn," Ryo said, " but right now I think I'd like some sleep. So, do you mind taking the first watch?" 

What? First watch? Oh no, they aren't both going to sleep! 

This was seriously upsetting his plans. If one of them was going to stay awake, they couldn't be easily surprised. The wise thing would be to attack when the kid was awake and overtake him before he could wake the lizard. But this could take hours and he and the boys also needed to get some sleep. 

" Damn," Turuiemon whispered.

" Yeah sure kid," V-mon said, " I'll wake you in a few hours." 

__

Damn, damn, damn, Turuiemon thought furiously. 

" Okay, guys," he whispered, " change of plans. We wait another hour before we attack. That way, maybe the V-mon isn't paying much attention anymore, so let's just wait." 

The next hour went by slowly, very slowly. With no one to talk too, V-mon was just left with his thoughts. So far Ryo was doing great, taking the stress of the mission and the subsequent attacks like a pro. This was more than V-mon could have hoped for and as such he didn't mind being the kid's temporary partner, he even enjoyed it. 

Thinking about Ryo, his temporary Chosen, he couldn't help but think about the next one. Tomorrow they would reach the portal and go to File Island, Ryo's as well as his own, first trip there. The other Chosen digimon came from that Island and they had done great against all their foes. He often wondered what the island was like, was it a paradise or a death trap meant for training? From what he had heard it was both for a time. It's supposed to be a beautiful and tranquil island now, but when Devimon ruled there it was also filled with danger, provided by the black gears. But those days were over and it was peaceful once again under the protection of the reborn Leomon, though he wasn't at that level yet. 

The new Chosen was to appear there, in Primary Village and soon. But Gennai couldn't really say how soon. It could be now, but also in a few days. He wondered, just as Ryo did, what the other Chosen would be like. They would be finding that out soon enough, he supposed. 

His thoughts also went back to Chimeramon and Mugen Dramon, the fusion and the dark god. Such powerful adversaries, he could still hardly believe it. If successful this mission would be his crowning achievement, he might even get famous for it, which would be nice for a while. But after that there would be another mission and another, he would keep fighting for the side of good. 

But if they failed, there would be no fame and no further missions. He would be dead and the whole world with him, an unsettling thought. _Why can't they just be like those three losers_? 

Speaking of which, he wondered what they were doing now? Surely they had recovered from his beating by know. _Heh, that was kind of fun, but they shouldn't have attacked Ryo_.

They were probably long gone by now, those type of digimon usually didn't risk a second confrontation. By know they were most likely licking there wounds in a pit somewhere. 

But even if they were gone, an attack might still be made. Server just isn't the safest place to be, especially at night. _Good thing Ryo thought about taking guard duties, we'll make a soldier out of him yet_.

" Yawn." 

The hour wasn't as good for the Terrible Trio either, in fact it was worse. While Ryo was sound asleep and V-mon comfortably propped against a tree, they were huddled close together in the bushes. 

They were cramped, tired and annoyed, but Turuiemon tried to keep a sense of discipline. Only a small wait longer was needed, he was sure of it. Soon a moment of opportunity would present itself and he was dead set on taking it. 

That moment presented itself when he heard the lizard yawning, a sign that it was tired and it's guard lowered. He stifled a laugh as he peered at it from the bushes. Turning to face his friends, he smiled at them and they new the time had finally come. 

" Alright guys, I'll attack from here, Thundermon you attack from the left and Tsukaimon from the right. Okay let's go." 

The attack came suddenly, quick and unexpected. One moment V-mon was just resting against a tree and the next he was on his feet dodging blasts and fists. Though he knew nothing of the oncoming attack he was always on guard and noticed a difference in the forest a second before the first blast hit. 

" Ryo!" V-mon yelled, hoping that none of the attacks had hit him in his sleep. 

Dodging blasts he risked a glance at Ryo's sleeping place, but no one was there. Fearing the worst, that Ryo was dead by these jokers, he flew into a rage. No longer was he trying to play defensive, he went into a full-fledged offensive. He cared nothing for his own life, only to make these fools pay for what they had done. 

" Die! You fiends! " He shouted at his first target, the Thundermon. In the darkness of the forest and the blinding light of the fire, his foes were camouflaged, but now he had his sights on one of them. 

__

I should have killed them when I had the chance.

Jumping over an electric blast shot straight at him, he could feel his rage turn into power and with a light surrounding him he evolved. 

Thundermon was afraid, never before had he felt like this. This was supposed to be a simple mugging, a surprise attack. No one was supposed to get hurt, especially not them. But this little lizard, angry beyond belief, was now a dragon in murderous rage. It just kept evading his hits as it charged at him. Thinking the end had come Thundermon did the only thing he could think of, he screamed. 

" IIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKK!" 

But then the wild beast suddenly changed its course and sailed past him, he was saved! Looking around he saw his savior, Turuiemon, in a fight with the dragon. Both fighters were holding each other's hands, each trying to push down the other. So far it was a stalemate, but Thundermon could see that Turuiemon was getting tired, while the V-dramon was going strong and getting even stronger. It wouldn't be long before Turuiemon would be lying on the ground at the berserker's mercy. And from what he had seen, there would be no mercy at all. He had to act soon to save his friend, but what could he do that he hadn't tried before? Whatever he was going to do it had to be done now. 

Tsukaimon had the same idea, as he was now flying at full speed to the struggling two, intend on knocking the dragon down. V-dramon had no idea of the little digimon attacking him, so set was he on taking out his rage on the rabbit. For him all hope was lost, Ryo was dead and so was all hope of winning against the dark god. 

Then out of the darkness of the forest a shape collided with Tsukaimon, making both of them roll over the ground. They rolled right passed the struggling digimon and the blazing fire. For a moment the fire's light washed over the two rolling figures and V-dramon could see that one of them was the Tsukaimon. The other however…

" Ryo! Your alive!" he shouted in surprise and happiness, momentarily losing some of his grip on Turuiemon. 

" O-of course he is," a winded Turuiemon said. Turning his gaze back to the purple rabbit, V-dramon scowled at him again. 

" What do you mean by that," he demanded. 

" No-one was supposed to get hurt, " Turuiemon spat, " this was just a simple mugging to get back at you for beating us up earlier." 

" You were trying to ROB us, " V-dramon was getting quite pissed at the rabbit again. After he saw that Ryo still lived he was considering going easy on them. But now he knew these dishonorable dogs were gonna steal their stuff and leave them to rot, all bets were once again off. 

Just as he was getting the upper hand again he felt something move in the air behind him. A glance behind him told him enough, Thundermon was there, preparing to strike. 

" You will not hurt him, " Thundermon said," I will k-kill you before I will let that happen, I swear_." I hope I can, oh by the gods, I hope I can. I've never killed before_. 

" Stop right there," a voice said. 

Sleeping in the open for the first time was a strange experience for Ryo. It wasn't as bad as he had feared, but it was still weird. That's why he wasn't sleeping very deep when he heard the attack. As soon as the first blasts hit he was wide-awake and rolled away from his position. Only a moment later did he hear V-mon yell his name, but by then he had already rolled closer to the tree line. By the time V-mon could check up on him, he was already hiding in the darkness, watching the scene unfold. He wanted to help, but knew that in a direct confrontation with a digimon, especially against an adult, as two of them were, he didn't have a chance in hell. 

From the sidelines he saw V-mon evolve and then in hand-to-hand combat with the rabbit digimon, Turuiemon. He wondered why they were attacking them again, he didn't believe them to be evil at first. Maybe he was wrong, he didn't really know them come to think of it. For all he knew they were working for the evil he was here to fight against. 

From the other side of the clearing he could see something small moving towards V-dramon and Turuiemon. Looking more closely he recognized the form of Tsukaimon, intend on attacking V-dramon in the back. Ryo couldn't let that happen, not while he was still there. Taking a quick dive forward from the trees he intercepted the flying pot-roast in mid air, making both of them tumble over the ground. 

" Ah! Let go of me," Tsukaimon managed to bring out before another spin brought Ryo on top, taking all the air out of the small digimon's longs. 

Ryo heard V-dramon and Turuiemon talking and he felt relieved that they didn't work for the dark god. But still, robbing them just to get back at being beat up in an attack that they started didn't sound very good either. However, they weren't planning on killing them, so maybe there was hope yet. 

Then Ryo heard Thundermon threatening V-dramon and he knew that V-dramon couldn't react to it, being in combat with Turuiemon and all. Ryo knew it was up to him. 

Getting back up to his feet, he held Tsukaimon in a tight grip close to his body, with one hand over the creature's mouth. Having seen what attacks V-dramon could do from his mouth he didn't want to risk something like that with this digimon. 

" Stop right there," he shouted with authority, hoping he could bluff his way out of this one. His shouting made all three heads of the fighting digimon looking in his direction, surprise appearing on all of them. 

" Let V-dramon go, " Ryo said," or the little one gets it." To make his point he intensified his grip on the struggling digimon in his arms, Tsukaimon had a look of fear in his eyes now. Ryo just hoped that the other two believed that he'd make good on his threats too, he didn't really feel like killing the little one. If it wasn't attacking them, he would have thought it was quite cute.

" Y-you wouldn't," Turuiemon said, trying to find out what the human was thinking. He knew too little about them, he realized, there was no way he could find out whether the human was bluffing or not, until it was too late. He had no choice he realized, no choice at all. In a split second he gave up on struggling with V-dramon, the dragon relaxing a bit as he did so. 

" Thundermon, " Turuiemon said dejectedly, " ease of, we don't want to endanger Tsukaimon." 

Thundermon kept in position for a few seconds, but he to knew that he had no way of winning this with Tsukaimon in danger. He hovered a few feet away and lowered his arm, dissipating the blast he had prepared. 

Seeing that they were backing down and that Ryo was in no immediate danger, V-dramon got an evil grin on his face, something Turuiemon noticed a bit to late. Flung away by a V-breath Arrow he was knocked out when he hit a tree. Making a quick turn before anyone knew what was happening he fired another V-breath Arrow knocking out Thundermon as well. 

Surprised at V-dramon's sudden attack, Ryo relinquished some of hold on Tsukaimon. Taking this unexpected opportunity Tsukaimon used whatever strength he had to break free. 

" Hey!" Ryo exclaimed when the digimon broke free and tried to fly away. It didn't even get a meter away when a third Arrow hit him to and sent him sprawling like his friends.

Grinning from horn to horn, V-dramon approached Ryo giving him a tight hug. 

" What was that all about, " Ryo asked when he was released from the dragon's grip. 

" Just happy to see you, I guess," V-dramon said, apologizing for his rash behavior in hugging Ryo like that.

" Know what to do with these miscreants?" V-dramon continued, the anger still clear in his voice. 

" What do you mean?" Ryo asked, not really liking what he thought his friend wanted to do. V-dramon turned his head to Ryo, looking him straight in the eyes. 

" They have attacked us twice Ryo, we should take care of them now before they do it again." 

" No, " Ryo said with conviction," we won't kill them. I don't want to kill unless it is necessary, and now is not the case. They are defeated, they can't hurt us now. Let us tie them up with some of those vines in the trees. When they come to they will need time to escape and by that time we are already at the portal." 

Ryo looked at V-dramon pleadingly for a time, hoping he could change his friend's thoughts. V-dramon meanwhile found it hard not to give in to the kid when he stared at him like that. 

" Oh alright," he said, " let's tie them up." 

" Thanks my friend." 

Authors Notes: 

Well, another chapter done. Hope you enjoyed it.

Japanese to English: Mugen Dramon = Machine Dramon ; Chimeramon = Kimeramon.

If you have any comments, suggestions or anything else to say you can mail me at: black_knightmon@hotmail.com 

Next time, Chapter 4: Arrivals of File Island.


	5. Arrivals on File Island

Disclaimer: I don't own digimon. I'm just borrowing them for a while till they are needed again for new episodes.

Ken: "But they don't need us anymore…"

*smirks* I know.

Chapter Four: Arrivals on File Island

Ryo's log: August 2000, Digiworld, Chida village, blistering plains.

V-mon and I left Gennai's house after a very good breakfast. I wished we could have stayed longer, the house was beautiful, the food was good and most of all, no one attacks anyone there. But we couldn't stay, so after breakfast and some instructions from Gennai we started on our mission to fight Mugen Dramon. We had to find another Chosen first so that's what we set out to do. The Chosen we were going to meet was to be found on an Island far away. Luckily we can use a portal to go there, we should reach it soon. 

So far so good, it seemed. Well this changed the moment we set foot on the plains. For no reason at all we were attacked by a gang of digimon, twice. We won both times but it is becoming a bit tedious. So far the only good digimon I met is V-mon. Are all digimon like Kuwagamon, Turuiemon, Tsukaimon and Thundermon? I hope not, but I will find out soon enough when we reach the village with the portal. 

End log.

" Oww, damn it," Turuiemon said when he woke up and found himself tied to a tree with his friends. The surprise attack last night didn't exactly work out as planned and it was them who got the surprises. And now here he was, tied to a tree, defeated once again by one digimon and a human. He looked around him and saw his friends, Thundermon and Tsukaimon, tied to the same tree on either side of him. _We failed again, _he thought_, but we are alive. I can't believe we are still alive._

He tried moving his arms and found to his surprise that he could move his claws to the vines binding them. Glad that he finally seemed to get a break, he started scraping his claws against the vine to cut it. Thanks to the sharpness of his metallic claws he was freed in a few seconds. 

No longer supported by the vines, both Thundermon and Tsukaimon slumped forward and hit the ground on their faces, still unconscious. Standing up, Turuiemon moved away from the tree and surveyed the clearing. As he had expected both Ryo and V-mon had left, but he knew where they were going. They would pay somehow for the humiliation that they had put him through. 

" Yes, we will get back at you. The next time we meet things will be different." Turuiemon said, but was greeted only with silence. Turning around he walked back to his friends, who were still not awake. Scowling at them he decided to help them wake up so he brought back his feet for a kick.

Now, while in the digital world about two days had passed, only minutes had gone by in the real world. Sitting on the floor in his brother's room, young Ichijouji Ken was blinking away his tears. His brother had been very mean to him again, for no reason at all. All he had wanted was to play a game with his big brother, but Osamu didn't let him. Was it all his fault? Did he do something to make Osamu act this way towards him? He only wanted to play a game, was that too much to ask? 

__

Apparently it is, Ken thought bitterly. Osamu had never been this mean to him, never grabbed hold of him like that and all because of that strange device. _Why can't I see it? I won't break it._

His eyes inadvertently went towards Osamu's desk, where he had put the device. It's mine, he had said, but just a quick peek wouldn't hurt, right? 

While staring at the desk-drawer, he kept debating the matter in his head. 

__

It won't hurt just to take a look, his curiosity said.

" But Osamu said I shouldn't." 

__

If I do it quickly he will never have to know.

" He will know, he always does." 

__

So what? What's he gonna do about it?

" But it's his device."

__

So?

Slowly his resolve started to waver and he was taken over by his curiosity, as he always was. No matter in how much trouble he could get, if he saw a mystery he just had to solve it. And right now the strange device was the biggest mystery of all. 

" I guess I could take a look," he said to himself. _Maybe I can see something Osamu didn't_! 

Getting up from the floor Ken went to his brother's desk. 

" Just a quick look," he said as his hand went to the drawer. 

Luckily Osamu had forgotten to lock his drawer so it opened up easily. Staring for a moment at the device lying there, Ken picked it up and turned it around in his hands. After that he just stared at it some more. He couldn't understand what the device was for, but Ken remembered it came from the computer. Even though it came out of the screen, the monitor itself wasn't damaged at all, very strange. Just as he was bringing his hand closer to the computer to investigate it, the light returned. It illuminated the entire room, expelling the darkness that was there before. When the light subsided, Ken was gone and so was the device.

When Ken opened his eyes he was staring up at the sky, lying on his back on the grass. Sitting up with a jolt he surveyed the area, which was nothing like his home. There were large trees, with toys growing from them, and large blocks piled on top of each other. 

" Where am I?" He asked to no-one in particular. 

" You're in Digiworld, Ken." A soft-childlike voice said. 

" What? Who said that?" Ken asked, looking around frantically.

" So, this is the village," Ryo said. 

They had arrived at the village at noon and were now sitting in the mayor's house. The mayor, a Chuchidarumon, lived in the biggest house in the town, located at the center. 

" Yes it is. It's not much, just a few houses in the middle of nowhere, but it's a good place to live," Chuchidarumon said.

" I'm sure it is, " V-mon said, " but can we come down to business?" 

" We don't want to be rude, but we are kinda in a hurry," Ryo added to V-mon's blunt statement.

" Of course, of course, official business and all, I understand." 

Chuchidarumon stood up from his chair and proceeded to walk to the door. V-mon and Ryo watched him, unsure of what to do. Sensing their indecision Chuchidarumon turned his head and beckoned for them to follow him outside.

Once again in the sun, Ryo took another look around the village. There were a few houses, all of them dome shaped, all positioned around the mayor's house. From what Ryo had seen of the digimon living here, Chuchidarumon was the highest evolution, an adult. The rest of the village seemed to consist of Gabumon, Gotsumon and their lower forms. All of them could eventually evolve into a Chuchidarumon according to V-mon. 

They started moving away from the mayor's house, towards the opposite edge of the village from where they entered. In the distance, a few hundred meters beyond the village was a large hill. At first Ryo thought the portal would be in the village, maybe even in the mayor's house. 

" So mayor, " Ryo asked the large mud-man in front of them, " where exactly is this portal?" 

" It's on top of the hill," Chuchidarumon said without looking back. 

Leaving the village behind, V-mon took a last look back. 

" It certainly is peaceful here," he said. 

" Yes it i…" Chuchidarumon started saying when an explosion was heard in the village. 

" Who are you?" Ken asked the little green coconed creature. " And how do you know my name." 

The little green digimon hopped forward towards the startled boy. Surprised by the little green creature Ken stumbled back and fell down. 

" Oww," he mumbled before going in a sitting position. In an instant the green digimon was nestled in Ken's lap. 

" I'm Minomon, Ken." He said, " and I've been waiting for you. I'm your digimon." 

" My…digimon," Ken asked in surprise. He had never heard about digimon before. 

" Yes Ken, and I'm so happy to finally meet you. I've been waiting for you for so long. But now you're finally here with me." 

Minomon looked up to Ken with his eyes sparkling. At last his Chosen was here, the one to make him complete, to be his friend. Seeing the happiness in Minomon's eyes, Ken smiled knowing someone liked him for himself, not because of Osamu. Ken then rapped his arms around the little creature, bringing it closer to him, Minomon sighed in content. For a moment they just sat there, but Ken still had some questions he liked answered. 

" Minomon, " Ken finally asked, " how do you know you're my digimon? And what is a digimon? And where am I?" 

" Ooh, lot's of questions, " Minomon chirped, " uhm, which one do you want answered first?" 

" The first question?" Ken asked. 

" Aah, yes, the first question, " Minomon said, looking pensive. 

" What was it again?" Minomon looked a bit ashamed, Ken just facefaulted, then started laughing. 

" You're a funny little thing aren't you, " he said finally, still holding the little digimon. 

" Damn, what's happening? " Ryo shouted as he stood in the midst of the burning buildings of Chida Village. As soon as they saw the explosion the three of them had quickly returned to the village. Ryo was shocked at the sudden outbreak of violence. Digimon, child and baby digimon, were screaming for someone to save them. Chuchidarumon was already using his mud-slap attack to put out the fires, but V-mon couldn't do anything. 

" I don't have any moves that could help stop the fire Ryo," he said in shame. Ryo was about to say something when he heard a loud roar. Another explosion sounded shortly after that, making Ryo realize that someone was attacking the village. A feeling of resolve filled him, surprising him slightly. Maybe he couldn't help putting out fires, but together with V-mon they could stop the thing attacking the village. 

" Come on V-mon," he said with determination, " we have to stop that thing." 

" Right," V-mon said with equal fire before both started running towards the newest explosion.

" Be careful, you two!" Chuchidarumon yelled after them, " Mud-Slap!" 

Slowly Ken walked around the toy-area Minomon called Primary Village. From what he had heard from his new little friend this was the place all digimon came from. He was amazed at what he heard from Minomon, though the little one had admitted that he didn't know everything, it was still a lot for Ken. 

Right now they were going to see someone, a friend of Minomon, who could tell him more about being a "Chosen". Apparently Chosen Children had digivices and digimon, like he had now, but that was all Minomon could tell him. 

__

But this isn't my digivice, Ken thought sadly, _it's Osamu's_. 

His sad thoughts disappeared when they turned a corner around a block tower. All over the place were baskets with little digimon inside of them. Staring for a moment at the sweet sight in front of him, Ken started running in the field and stopped in the middle of it. Looking down and around himself he could see that the tiny creatures in the baskets were staring at him. 

" This is Ken everybody," Minomon said proudly, " he's my Chosen Child." 

" Hello Ken, welcome Ken, good to see you Ken," was heard from the mouths of the many baby digimon. 

Ken laughed, he had never felt so happy. The baby's and Minomon really seemed to like him, no one had ever given him this feeling before, not even his own family.

" Hello everyone," Ken said to the assembled digimon. All of them started chattering amongst each other and to Ken. Sitting down in the field he started to play with them, having the time of his life. 

After maneuvering the dangerous, fire-ridden streets of Chida-village, Ryo and V-mon finally found their target. 

" V-mon," Ryo started," what is that thing?" 

In front of them was a large cat made of fire with burning red eyes. It was using both his body and attacks to set fire to the village. 

" I'm not sure, but I think that's Lynxmon," V-mon replied.

" You are correct," a malicious, growling voice said. Having stopped his attacks on the village the Lynxmon had turned his red eyes on Ryo and V-mon.

" Why are you doing this," Ryo shouted. 

The Lynxmon just looked annoyed that someone would ask him such a question, but decided to answer anyway. 

" For the Master," he growled, then leaped towards them. Both Ryo and V-mon scurried out of the way, Ryo to the left and V-mon to the right. Landing where they used to stand, Lynxmon hesitated, wondering which one he would attack first, then turned his head in Ryo's direction. 

" Time to die, human filth." It snarled. 

__

Why do they always go after me? Ryo thought exasperated.

It lunged at Ryo, but just as it was about to tear Ryo to shreds, an electrifying pain erupted in it's head making it miss Ryo completely. 

" What's wrong?" Ryo asked, seeing the digimon in obvious pain. 

" What do you care!" the beast shouted back in return. 

Ryo together with V-mon, who had returned to the boy's side, where watching Lynxmon in surprise. Just a moment ago it tried to attack them but now it just looked extremely pitiful to them. 

" No, no, I understand," it mumbled to himself," yes, I'll do it, the other one, yes Master." 

Focusing it's attention back to Ryo and V-mon, Lynxmon smirked triumphantly. The pain was obviously gone and it's red eyes observed them threateningly. 

" Uhm, what are you doing?" V-mon asked the creature, whom he thought was obviously insane. 

" I'm doing the Master's bidding. I will destroy the portal in the village! And you with it lizard." 

And with those words the cat of fire once again went on the offensive. With renewed drive it lunged at V-mon, completely ignoring Ryo who was backing up away from the feral beast.

" V-mon look out," Ryo shouted to his partner. He wanted to help his friend, but he knew he could do nothing. If he tried to interfere it would only endanger both himself and V-mon.

Lynxmon meanwhile was making rapid attacks with his flames, keeping V-mon on the defensive. V-mon could do nothing else but keep jumping out of the way every time the beast attacked. 

" Wild Nail Rush!" it shouted while making a swipe at the blue lizard with his claws. V-mon could barely evade it. 

Making a quick slide underneath the cat and appearing again behind it, V-mon snarled at it. He knew he couldn't win it like this, he had to evolve. But if he did that he wouldn't be able to move for the duration of the change, making himself a sitting duck. On the other hand, if he didn't evolve quickly the beast would get him anyway. Wondering what to do he risked a glance at Ryo, before jumping away from another Nail Rush. 

" You can't escape me forever, fool!" the Lynxmon snarled. 

" We…will…see!" V-mon defiantly said back, but he was getting tired from al this jumping. 

" Thermal Mane!" 

A gust of flames erupting from Lynxmon's fiery manes drove V-mon back against a wall, there was no escape. _We will see indeed_, the beast thought triumphantly. 

" No!" Ryo shouted as he jumped in between the cat and V-mon, holding out his arms to block the beasts way. " I won't let you hurt him." 

As the beast stalked forward Ryo realized this was an idle threat, but at least he would go down with his friend. 

" Thermal," Lynxmon started saying, his body flaring up to prepare for the assault, 

"Maaaaahhhhhhhh!" 

Once again the pain flared through his skull making him unable to finish his assault. He took a quick step back and the pain resided. As he thought about continuing his attack, it flared up again, startling him. 

__

Why can't I attack him! He thought feverishly.

__

Because you're not allowed to, slave. A dark and menacing voice said in his head. 

__

What? His eyes widened in shock. 

__

You are completely useless, the voice went on, _it's time to finish this_.

Ryo and V-mon just looked on, wondering why Lynxmon hadn't just attacked Ryo, but V-mon quickly snapped out of his reverie. Even though he was tired he knew that he had to go on and with Lynxmon distracted this was the perfect opportunity. 

" V-mon," he said quietly to avoid being overheard by the cat," evolves to…" 

A light surrounded V-mon's body and he felt himself changing once again. Expecting to be instantly attacked by Lynxmon he was surprised to notice he had completed his evolution without trouble.

Now in his larger form, V-dramon towered above both Ryo and Lynxmon, but the cat was still staring straight ahead of him in shock. _He doesn't know I_ _evolved_! V-dramon realized, _how rude_.

" Ahem, helloooo!" V-dramon said testily, not liking being ignored by his opponent, " Anybody home?" 

Still getting no response, V-dramon nudged Ryo out of the way and took a step forward towards the stupefied cat. Annoyed by it's behavior, V-dramon started waving his claw in front of the cat's face. Only then did it look up towards the large dragon, but otherwise it was still not reacting at all. 

__

What do you mean with 'finish this'. Lynxmon thought. All his attention was focused on that cold voice in his head, he didn't care about what happened around him anymore.

" Grrr, stupid thing," V-dramon said, then landed a punch straight into the cat knocking it back a few feet. When it got back up on it's feet the red eyes were burning with much more ferocity than before. 

Snarling and growling the beast lunged at V-dramon in a blind rage. 

" V-dramon!" Ryo shouted. 

" V-breath Arrow!" V-dramon said, firing the blue blast from his mouth at the charging savage. 

__

You'll find out now, the voice said smugly, _farewell_.

At these words Lynxmon freaked, he wanted to run away but all he could feel was an all consuming rage. Shocked he realized he had no longer any control over his body and the blast from V-dramon was rapidly approaching. 

Lynxmon didn't make any attempt at avoiding it, instead it just charged into it with it's mouth wide open. The beam entered him through it and shot down his throat, completely destroying the beasts insides. A few feet before it reached V-dramon it erupted into data and a black beam shot away from the remains towards the horizon. 

" What the hell?" V-dramon exclaimed in surprise.

" What was that beam?" Ryo asked also surprised at the fight's sudden ending. Both of them couldn't quite fathom what was going on, but they knew it didn't look good.

" I don't know Ryo, I don't know." 

" I see you've been making yourself comfortable," a calm authoritative voice said.

Ken looked up from where he was sitting, covered with baby digimon, and saw another digimon standing close by.

" Elecmon," Minomon greeted, " I'd like you to meet Ken, he's my Chosen. Ken, this is Elecmon, the protector of File Island." 

" Not yet," Elecmon replied," but I will be as soon as I'm Leomon again. Besides, I think Ogremon is doing a nice job at it. Even if he doesn't want to admit it." 

Ken didn't know who this Ogremon is, but now he did know that this Elecmon was someone important. 

" Nice to meet you," he said politely.

" Nice to meet you too, Ken," Elecmon replied," It's been a while since I saw a Chosen Child." 

" You've seen other humans?" Ken asked enthusiastically. 

" Yes I have. Quite a few actually. "

" Wow! Could you tell me something about them?" 

" I can child. Come, let's go for a walk." 

" Chuchidarumon!" Ryo shouted as he saw the big digimon trying to put out the last fires caused by Lynxmon. His mud-slap was very effective in taking out the fire, but it did make the entire village a lot more messy. 

" Ryo, V-mon," the mayor replied," good to see you. Wait just a minute, I'm almost finished." 

It didn't take Chuchidarumon very long to put out the fire. When he was done he walked away, both Ryo and V-mon went to follow him. They went out of the village to a small house at the edge which thankfully survived the fire with nothing more then a few scorch marks. The other houses weren't so fortunate and were all in bad shape. 

" This is were we'll be staying," Chuchidarumon said, sighing." While we work on rebuilding the village. It's going to be a lot of work." 

" Maybe we can help," Ryo offered, though he knew they didn't really have the time to do so. Chuchidarumon knew this as well but was moved by the generous offer. 

" I thank you for your offer Ryo," he said," but I can't accept it. You have a mission ahead of you that can't wait, not even for this. Maybe, when it is over, you could help us." 

" When it's over," Ryo started. 

" We'll come back," V-mon finished. 

" Thank you," the mud digimon answered," both of you, for your kindness and for saving my village from complete destruction. I'm sorry I can't show you to the portal, I'm needed here badly, but I'll give you directions. Near the top of the hill is a cave, it's not really hard to find so you should have no difficulty locating it. Inside the cave you will find a metallic platform, just stand on it and it will take you to File Island. To get back, you just have to get on the File Island platform. It's really simple." 

Holding out his hand, which Ryo and V-mon shook he said farewell to them and they went on their way again, leaving a smoldering ruin of a village behind. 

__

Someone will pay for this, Ryo vowed_, I will find this 'master' and make him pay for what he has done_ _here today._

" So that's what a Chosen is," Ken said in awe," they must really have been amazing." 

" They were," Elecmon said," and I'm sure you'll be too." 

" Really? You think so?" Ken asked enthusiastically.

" Really," the digimon replied smiling.

" But," Ken said, suddenly a little sad as realization sunk in," you said they couldn't go home till the very end. Does this mean that, till I do something like they did, that I can't leave either. I'm really all alone?" 

" I," Elecmon replied hesitantly," I don't know for sure, but it looks like it. I'm sorry kid." 

" Don't be sad Ken, " Minomon said, snuggling up to the little boy, " I will be here for you." 

" You're right Minomon," Ken said, cheerful again, " and as long as we're together I'll never really be alone will I?" 

Ken started laughing in childish pleasure, hugging the little green digimon who was laughing also. Elecmon looked on, amazed by the this child's versatility. _They'll do just fine_, he thought. When Ken and Minomon stopped their laughing fit, Elecmon stood up. 

" Listen you two, I have to go back to the village now. You two can hang out here some more if you like. Minomon could even show you around some more Ken. I don't know the reason why you are here and I'm afraid you'll have to travel around to find out. But for tonight, I think it's best if you stayed with us in Primary Village and have a fresh start in the morning, what do you think?" 

" I think that's a great idea, thanks Elecmon. We will go exploring a bit now, see you later?" 

" Yeah, kid. See you later." Elecmon said before heading back to the baby digimon. 

With Elecmon gone the two of them went on their way as well, exploring the forest around Primary Village. The sun was already quite low in the sky and they knew they didn't have a lot of time before it would become dark. Still they had a lot of fun and didn't notice that the sun was almost setting till it was almost to late. 

" Oh oh, Minomon," Ken said," looks like it's getting dark. We had better go back." 

" Sure Ken," Minomon replied, still nestled comfortably in Ken's arms. 

" I don't think so," a rough voice said behind them, blocking their way back to Primary Village. 

Turning quickly Ken and Minomon came I to eye with a talking tree-stump. Ken was baffled at the sight of it, having never seen this kind of digimon before. Unafraid he took a step forward to the digimon, shocking both it and Minomon.

" Hello, I'm Ken. Who are you? Do you want to play with us?" He asked innocently. 

" Ken, what are you doing?" Minomon asked in surprise, knowing full well who this digimon was. 

" That's a Woodmon, they are Viral digimon who attack other digimon to take their energy." 

" That's right and now your energy will be mine," the Woodmon smirked as it got closer. 

" But why?" Ken asked as he was edging back with Minomon in his arms.

" Ken, " Minomon started," remember what Elecmon said about evil digimon? This is one of them."

" I understand Minomon," Ken said with conviction, surprising the Woodmon. This was not supposed to happen, they should be cowering in fear not stand up to him. What was going on here? 

" Easy to find, my ass," V-mon grunted. For the past hour they had been traveling up the hill which seemed to be a lot bigger than they had originally thought. Right now they were on the top of the hill and with no cave in sight. 

" Take it easy, Vee." Ryo said out of breath, " I'm sure we'll find it soon." 

" Yeah, but we are on the top now. It should be here." V-mon persisted, already getting a bit pissed. He didn't like going on a wild goose chase, especially not uphill. Looking about testily he noticed that Ryo was shifting around uncomfortably. 

" What is it Ryo?" he asked. 

" Nothing really, V-mon," Ryo answered quickly, a bit to quickly. 

" RYO!" V-mon demanded. 

" Alright, V-mon. I was thinking about what Chuchidarumon told us." 

" And?" 

" I think we are looking in the wrong place." Ryo answered. 

" What?! Whatever gave you that idea?" V-mon asked in surprise.

" Don't you remember what he told us about the location of the portal?" 

" Yes, of course. He said it was on top of the hill. Why do you ask?" 

" Well, it's just that he didn't say that the cave was on top of the hill, but _near_ the top of the hill." 

" Oh right, guess I forgot about that part," V-mon said, sweat-dropping. 

" So now we just have to descend a bit and look all around the hill for the cave." Ryo said simply, but looked anxiously at V-mon nonetheless. It didn't take V-mon long to catch up on what his partner was referring to. 

" B-but this hill is huge! " V-mon exclaimed. 

" I know," Ryo replied.

" Stand still you little buggers," Woodmon yelled at the human and digimon. Ken, with Minomon still in his arms was running around frantically dodging the attacks of the Woodmon, but he couldn't keep it up. He whispered this to Minomon, not wanting the Woodmon to realize their weakness. 

" I understand Ken," Minomon said solemnly. Though he had only known the boy for a few hours, they already had a strong bond, he could feel it. " _I will be here for you, _he remembered telling Ken a little while ago. Now was the time to prove that, he knew that if he didn't Ken could die. _No! I will not let that happen._

" Ken, " he said, " whatever happens, you must not stay around here." 

" Huh?" Ken wondered what Minomon meant but couldn't dwell on the thought further as Woodmon's arm came crashing down towards them again. As he jumped away from the attack he felt Minomon leaving his arms. 

" Run Ken, RUN!" the little digimon yelled at Ken before placing himself between Ken and the Woodmon. He felt scared, but didn't want to show it, so he just stared at the Woodmon with a look of anger on his face. Being the little digimon that he was, it wasn't all that intimidating. In fact it just looked very cute on him.

" Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" Woodmon started laughing, " you think you can stop me little one?"

" No," Minomon said solemnly," I know I can stop you! For Ken! Bubble Blow!"

Using his only attack Minomon blew a lot of pink bubbles in Woodmon's face, but the attack didn't do any damage. It's only result was making the Woodmon laugh even harder. Then it reacted and smashed his arm into the little green Child, knocking it out of the way and into a tree. Ignoring Minomon, the Woodmon advanced on Ken, sure of his victory. 

" Your digimon friend is down little one. Are you still so sure you're going to get out of this?" 

" Y-yes," Ken said, trying to be as brave as Minomon was.

" You will not get away with this!" He added more confidently as his digivice started to shine, but nobody noticed it. 

" Says who," Woodmon taunted. 

" Says me!" an angry, but still cute voice said. Looking to his right he saw that Minomon had gotten up and was glaring at him. As surprised as Woodmon was that the Infant was still standing after his attack, it was nothing to the shock he felt when he saw the little one glowing. Hopping forward, the glow surrounding Minomon became brighter and larger. _How is this possible?_

" Minomon evolves to Wormmon!" Was heard from the light before it faded revealing a green caterpillar. 

" Minomon?" Ken asked silently. 

" Sticky Net!" Worrmmon shouted when his hops had brought him close to the Woodmon. A web shot out of his beak right into Woodmon's face, blinding him. 

" Silky Thread!" Wormmon said next, firing a thread from his beak up to one of the tree branches above them. Using this thread he swung himself towards Ken and landed in front of him. 

" Minomon, is that you?" Ken asked the green digimon in front of him. 

" Yes Ken," Wormmon said when he turned his up towards Ken. " But I'm Wormmon now, I evolved for you." 

" For me?" Ken asked happily. 

Before Wormmon had a chance to answer though they were interrupted by an angry scream. Filled with rage Woodmon had managed to free himself from the webbing covering his face. 

" You'll pay for that Child!" Woodmon growled before charging towards Ken and Wormmon. Quickly Wormmon shot another silk thread up to the branches above and then with Ken holding him swung them out of the way. Landing behind Woodmon, Wormmon ordered Ken to hide behind the trees while he took care of the virus. 

Standing firm he watched the now berserk tree charge towards him. Looking very determined to win this fight for Ken he prepared his own attack. If only he could find the creature's weakness. 

" Found it! " Ryo shouted suddenly. 

After another half an hour of scouring the hillside Ryo had finally discovered something that resembled a cave opening a few meters below him. Together with V-mon he descended towards it. 

" Yes this is it," V-mon said cheerfully, at last the search was over. " Come on, let's go inside now. It's getting kind of late anyway." 

" Yeah, let's do it now while it's still light," Ryo concurred, " I don't want to have to go back down the hill for the night and climb up again in the morning." 

" You got that right," V-mon said. 

So in the last remaining minutes of sunlight the two of them entered the cave. For the first couple of meters it looked just like a rocky opening in a hill, but then it changed to become a marbled corridor towards a small chamber. Surprisingly the chamber was fully lit up, but none of that light could be seen before they entered the room, even though there was no door to block the entrance. 

" The things you see in this world," Ryo said in awe. 

" Yes, it's really something isn't it," V-mon commented in a dry tone, not being the least surprised. And he was still a bit pissed at having searched for this cave for so long.

" So, let's do this. Right?" Ryo asked.

" Yep," V-mon answered and stepped on the round platform, Ryo following his example almost immediately. Not knowing what else to do since there where no controls they just stood there looking around a bit. Just as Ryo was about to call it quits the room around them started shimmering and shifting in and out of view for a few moments. When it stopped Ryo and V-mon where left in exactly the same room. 

" What the… we're still here," Ryo said. 

" Maybe," V-mon, "or maybe not. Come on let's go outside." 

Following V-mon out of the room, Ryo wondered if all of this had been a waste of time. However when they exited the cave they saw they weren't on the hill anymore, but standing outside of a small cave in the middle of a forest. 

" Guess it did work," V-mon said like he never doubted it for a minute. 

" So what now. Do we go look for the other Chosen or what?" Ryo asked. 

" I think," V-mon replied, while looking in the air, " that it's best if we go make up camp for the night and look for him in the morning."

" Sticky Net," Wormmon shouted again as he used his attack. For the past few minutes he had been dodging and attacking the viral tree digimon and by now it was easier to attack since he didn't need to dodge anymore. 

Almost Woodmon's entire body was now covered in webs and he could barely move. After a minute more, the only thing that could be seen was a web-like structure resembling a tree-stump. Satisfied that the digimon could no longer attack Ken, Wormmon stopped his attacks and turned towards where Ken was standing. 

" Way to go Wormmon," he shouted excitedly. " You really took him in! You're the best!" 

"Aw, it was nothing," Wormmon said shyly, al the while blushing furiously. 

" I wouldn't call it nothing, " a voice said from the tree line. Coming out of the bushes was Elecmon, looking very proudly at both Wormmon and Ken. " I'm very impressed at you two, taking on an Adult and winning." 

" You saw that?" Ken asked. 

" How long were you here," Wormmon added. 

" Long enough. I was going to step up and help you, but you seemed to have it all under control. Come with me, I'll take you two back to Primary Village."

__

I'm impressed, Elecmon thought, _when I heard that scream I feared for the worst, but it seems these two are really Chosen._

Taking the two fighters back to Primary Village, Elecmon made a glance to the left and nodded slightly. When the three of them had left the site a large figure stepped out from the trees and went towards the Woodmon. Being in the process of freeing himself from the webbings he didn't notice the newcomer's arrival. 

" Grrr, as soon as I'm free from these accursed webs I'll make them pay for this." 

" I don't think so," the figure said, startling the Woodmon out of his hateful thoughts.

" What? Ogremon?" Woodmon asked. 

" That's right, and for crimes against digimon and humans I'm here to exact the proper punishment," Ogremon said, grinning evilly.

" W-what do you mean 'punishment'?" 

" This," Ogremon answered, " I love my job. Bone Rod! " 

Bringing down his club on the weakened Woodmon it burst apart into data. 

" Now, time to eat," Ogremon said, walking away from the scene. 

" What happened here?" Tsukaimon asked to no one in particular. 

" Whatever it was," Thundermon replied," it was massive." 

Turuiemon kept quiet and listened to his friends with only a modicum of attention, instead he was studying the scene in front of him. It was a village, a ruined village at that, standing at the foot of a very large hilltop. From what he could tell there was a fire raging not to long ago. _And the scent of those two, Ryo and V-mon, are heading straight towards it. Could they have been the cause of this, or was it something else? _

" I have to find out," Turuiemon said quietly, but his two companions still heard him. 

" Find out what boss," Thundermon asked. 

" What happened down there," Turuiemon replied, pointing his claws towards the village. " Let's go." 

The three of them set foot towards the village and soon reached the outskirts. Being so close they saw child and infant digimon helping in the rebuilding process. 

" Hello there," Turuiemon said in his nicest voice to a small tsunomon.

" Uhm, hi." It replied shyly. 

" I was wondering if you could tell me what happened here. It looks like a fire raged here not to long ago. Tell me, was it caused by a human child and a V-mon?" 

" No sir, " the Tsunomon replied meekly," it was a large cat that did this. The two you mentioned helped to save us. They're heroes!" 

" Oh really," Turuiemon said, trying very hard to hide the sarcasm in his voice. " And where are those heroes now?" 

" Don't know, they left." 

" Do you know who would know?" Turuiemon asked.

" Our leader, mayor Chuchidarumon knows. At least I think he does." 

" Thank you for your assistance, young one." Turuiemon said and started to walk away to look for the mayor. 

" Are you here to help us?" The Tsunomon asked hopefully to the retreating rabbit digimon. " We could really use the help. We'd really appreciate it, honest. You…would be heroes to." 

This stopped Turuiemon in his tracks, not sure why he was considering the request. After all, they were bad digimon, they should be destroying this town, not helping it recover. But still, being a hero and all did sound nice and the Tsunomon was looking so very hopeful. 

" Maybe we will child, maybe we will." Turuiemon said, continuing to enter the village.

They didn't need to look long to find the mayor in the center of the village. He and a few other digimon, mostly Gabumon and Gotsumon, where working hard to fix the largest structure. If they could finish that then at least the youngest digimon would have a roof over their head. As they came closer they were noticed by Chuchidarumon and he approached them. 

" Yes, what can I do for you? We are kind of busy right now." 

" I realize that," Turuiemon said," but I just want to ask a few questions if that's alright with you. It won't take long." 

" Sure," Chuchidarumon said after considering it for a moment," what do want to know?" 

" Could you tell me where a human kid named Ryo and a V-mon went. I know they helped here and then left." 

" A yes, those two. They were a big help but they left in a warp. But before you ask, no, I won't tell you were the warp is." 

" I see," Turuiemon said, trying to hide his annoyance. " But we really need to find them." 

" Well, they should come back soon. The warp they took is the only one leading to the place where they are now, so they will need to use it again to come back here." 

" Good, and do you know when that will be?" 

" Not longer then a few days," Chuchidarumon answered. " If that is all, I've got to get back to work." 

Not waiting for an answer he turned around and went back to the dome. Turuiemon turned around as well and faced his friends.

__

Good, I guess we can wait that long. We might even be able to spring a trap for them. 

" What do we do now?" Tsukaimon asked Turuiemon.

" Well, we are just going to have to wait for them," he replied.

" Hello," a voice said to them. Looking down they saw a little Motimon looking up at them. 

" Hello yourself," Thundermon said. 

" Are you here to help us?" the little one asked. Soon the question was repeated by many little voices as other digimon came towards them. In all their eyes there was a spark of hope, which caught the Terrible Trio completely off guard.

" Uhm, well, ahh," they all stuttered. They had made it their goal to be the baddest group of digimon around and terrorizing these digimon would be the perfect move. But even as they thought about this, those eyes kept staring at them full of hope and It was starting to wear the three down. 

" Boss, can we?" Thundermon asked doubtfully. He didn't know what to do, but surely the boss would think off something. And think of something he did, they had to stay around to catch those two brats anyway and when they'd come back they were sure to check up on the village. So it was best if they stayed right here in the village. 

" Sure thing, little ones, we'll help you out." Turuiemon said, shocking his two friends. While the little digimon cheered loudly around them, Turuiemon took the opportunity to move closer to Thundermon and Tsukaimon.

" We'll stay here so we won't miss those brats return. And while we're here we can set up a trap as well." He whispered. 

Thundermon and Tsukaimon nodded, then followed Turuiemon to tell Chuchidarumon of their decision to help out. 

Somewhere on the continent of Server, a mysterious, dark-clad figure looked towards the horizon. Moments later he saw a beam of darkness racing through the skies towards him. Holding out his right hand the head of the beam changed it's descend and landed on the figure's black gloved palm. In the figure's outstretched hand the beam of darkness started to solidify into a dark egg. With the egg in his hands the figure looked in the direction of File Island. Smirking to himself, the figure turned and walked away. 

" Soon Akiyama, soon." 

Author's notes: 

Ah, the plot thickens. Who is this mysterious figure and what does he want with Ryo? I'm not going to tell you now, but you'll find out soon enough. 

There is something I have to clear up about him though and I guess this is as good a time as any. The mysterious one, as I'll refer to him for now, is not and I repeat, NOT a part of any of the Wonderswan games that this story is based on. I wanted to stay as true to the original game idea as possible, but I just need this guy later on. At least this may make things more interesting for those of you who've played the games. 

Although the presence of this mystery figure is not in the games, his presence will not affect anything that happened in the anime, so don't worry about it. The 'A/U'-ness of this story will be as small as possible. 

The only thing we've seen of Ryo and Ken's adventures in the anime are a few flashbacks from Ken, but they don't give a clear image of all that transpired. The games themselves are also heavily out of continuity with the anime (sigh), but I'll try to make it fit in with the anime as much as possible. Since I already have the next few chapters plotted out, this should not be a problem, I already made sure of it. They just need to be written yet. 

I'm sorry for those of you who hoped for a complete transcription of the games, but this was and will never be, my intention. What I do try is to make a story about the whole Milleniummon thing which can fit in with the anime plot, is based on the original story-line of the games, but gives me some room to play around in as well. If you want to know what **really** happens in the games, then I suggest you either play them or find a summary about them on the Internet. 

Well, I hope you liked it and that you actually took the time to read trough my little rambling in the AN. One more thing though, the mysterious figure is not a made-up character either. So who is it you ask? Stay tuned and find out!

Okay, just one more thing, please take the time to submit a review, it doesn't take that much time and I really appreciate it. You can also mail me at : black_knightmon@hotmail.com 

Translations:

Chuchidarumon = Mud Frigimon

Till next time!

Preview of the next chapter: 

Ryo meets up with Ken, while the mysterious figure makes another appearance. Now that the team is complete it's time to start the hunt, but can the young Chosen find their target in time? Where do they start to look for Mugen Dramon and where is Chimeramon anyway? And will the Terrible Trio win for once? The answers to (some of) these questions can be found in the next Chapter of Legendary Tamer 1.


	6. Team Complete

Disclaimer: I don't own digimon. I'm just borrowing them for a while till they are needed again for new episodes.

Ken: "But they don't need us anymore…"

*smirks* I know.

Chapter Five: Team Complete.

Ryo's log: August 2000, Digiworld, Warp Cave, File Island

Yesterday we reached Chida Village, a small settlement with digimon run by Chuchidarumon, the mayor. At last I met some friendly digimon, something I had been doubting if it even existed. It made me glad to see some peace and good in this world. Alas it wasn't to last as the village was attacked by a creature called Lynxmon. We fought it but it was the strangest fight ever, like the digimon was schizophrenic or something. We beat it, but not before most of the village was ruined. The strangest thing though, was that something shot out of the digimon's remains after it made a suicide charge. What was that thing and who was the master the Lynxmon kept talking about? Maybe I'll never know, but something tells me that I'm going to find out and regret it.

Leaving the village behind, we were on a deadline after all, we scaled a hill and entered the portal there. Now we are on File Island looking for the other Chosen so we can continue the hunt for Mugen Dramon and Chimeramon and end this nightmare. 

End log

" It's so pretty out here," the young biyomon said to herself as she sat in the long grass admiring a nearby river. It was her favorite spot in the whole digital world, the one place where she could be alone. Or so she thought as she heard soft footsteps behind her.

" I told you to leave me alone," she snapped, not turning around. _Can't those guys ever leave me alone? I already told them I'm not interested._

" I don't think so," a cold voice said behind her. 

" Eeeek," she screeched as she jumped up to look at who was there.

What she saw made her scream again, for it was nothing like she had ever seen before. The figure before her was humanoid, completely dressed in black and covered in a black cape. She tried to see a face, but couldn't make anything out for the figure had his face concealed in the hood of his cape. 

" Who are you?" She stammered as she was edging back. 

" Your new master," the figure said coldly. 

" M-mushroomon? G-gazimon? This isn't funny." Biyomon said in fright. 

A slight chuckle escaped the figure's mouth, scaring Biyomon even more. 

" Don't worry about them, little one. They won't bother you ever again."

Not wanting to accept the implications of the stranger's words, she shook her head violently. 

" No! What have you done to them!" She shouted angrily. 

" That doesn't concern you, but this does," he said, raising his black-gloved hand from out of the confines of his cape. Biyomon couldn't avert her eyes from the object in the guy's hand. It was an egg, completely black, even darker than the figure's clothing. Even more startling was that the egg seemed to emanate a dark energy, energy she was drawn too!

" W-what's happening to me," she said weakly, her gaze still locked on the egg. The dark figure didn't respond, it wouldn't have mattered anyway, the Biyomon was lost to the outside world. The Biyomon's eyes slowly lost their focus, then they became completely blank. At that moment the egg levitated out of the guy's hand and shot towards the paralyzed digimon, entering her. As it did so an electrifying pain shot through her entire body and it changed to a dark energy. As the energy that was Biyomon rose and started to expand she screamed in pain, feeling herself slip away in the darkness. When the transformation was complete, the figure looked it over for a moment.

" Excellent," he said, just as coldly as before," you have your orders, now go!" 

Screeching loudly, the creature took off and flew away. 

" Have fun, Akiyama," he said as the creature rapidly charged towards the horizon at mach speed," I know I will." 

A slight nudging in his sides made Ryo roll over in his sleep. " Just a little longer mom," he mumbled as he made himself comfortable again on the ground. _Strange, a part of his sleepy mind thought, __why am I lying on the ground and not my bed?_

" I'm not your mother kid," a voice said above him, " so WAKE UP!" 

Freaked out of his mind by V-mon's roar he jumped to his feet and quickly started scanning the area, already dreading an attack. 

" Where's the enemy V-mon?" he asked the grinning lizard, before realizing there was no threat. 

" How should I know Ryo?" V-mon answered calmly. 

" Then why did you wake me up so abruptly?" Ryo almost yelled at V-mon. By the rude awakening he had almost expected to see Mugen Dramon or Chimeramon bearing down on them or something. 

" Cause I'm hungry," V-mon said honestly, making Ryo face-fault.

After a quickly scrounged together breakfast, consisting mostly of berries, the two of them left the cave-side and ventured into the forest around them. They had to find the other Chosen Child as fast as possible, but they had no idea where to look or even if the other one had already arrived. _This is a wild goose chase, Ryo thought dejectedly, __maybe we should have just gone ahead to Mugen Dramon and see what happens. _

However Ryo didn't really like having to go head to head with someone as strong as the Ultimate without some back up, even if it only was one other kid and a digimon. _Maybe, he considered, __we should try to rally more help. But then, against something so incredibly strong, who would be mad enough to join us. _

Pondering these depressing thought, Ryo couldn't help but let out a sigh and stare at his feet as the forest started to thicken around them. Progress became harder and V-mon was forced to head-butt some of the foliage to get them through it. They went on like this for a few hours, till finally the forest got less dense and they could make their way through it normally again.

" Finally, " V-mon said, breaking the silence," I thought it would never end. I was starting to get a headache." 

" I'm sorry about that V-mon, but yeah, at least that's now over. With any luck, we might even get to leave the forest soon."

" Yeah maybe, but I don't think…" V-mon started saying when the forest suddenly stopped and they where at the edge of a valley. A very strange valley at that, it seemed to Ryo like it was a giant playground. The ground seemed to be a soft waving baby blanket, adorned with cute pictures of several digimon. The trees, though not as bountiful in number as the ones in the forest behind them, were a sight to be seen as well. They seemed to be like the trees on earth, but on their branches toys seemed to grow instead of fruit. 

There were buildings as well, or at least that's what Ryo assumed they were. The buildings were actually large and soft blocks resting atop each other.  For a moment Ryo could only stare in silence and take in his surroundings. Yet another strange, but beautiful thing that the digiworld had put in his path. Looking down at his digimon friend he could see that V-mon too was looking at the place in awe. 

" V-mon," Ryo started saying," what is this place? Do you know it?" 

" Yes Ryo," V-mon answered, looking up at his human companion," I believe this is Primary Village." 

" Primary Village?" 

V-mon nodded, " the place where all digimon come from. We are born and reborn here out of those eggs you see scattered all over the place. Though some of us are born outside of the village, most of us come from this place. Also, this is the only place where digimon who have been killed can be reborn again, so you see this place is very important to us." 

 " Indeed it is, " a voice said next to them. Looking over after their momentary shock they saw a young Elecmon sitting on the ground next to where they were standing. Ryo was just surprised at the sudden arrival of the digimon, but V-mon was feeling a different emotion. He never liked it when people surprised him like this, in his line of work that's usually a quick trip back to the digi-egg, or worse even, complete deletion. 

Though he was angered he tried not to show it, for the Elecmon didn't seem like a threat and he knew that these digimon had taken it upon themselves to take care of the eggs and babies. 

" Well, well, another human," Elecmon continued saying in an amused tone of voice, " it's getting kind of crowded here." 

" Very funny, Caretaker," V-mon replied testily while using the Elecmon's official title," we don't need your jokes! Wait a minute, did you say 'another human'?" 

It sounded to good to be true, the other chosen was here, finally they were getting a break. 

" Yes I did, there was another Chosen here, but he left about an hour ago. And don't call me Caretaker, for that's not what I am." 

" You're not a Caretaker?" V-mon questioned in surprise. He had never heard of an Elecmon that lived in Primary Village and wasn't a Caretaker.

" What's a Caretaker?" Ryo asked. He really wanted to know about the other Chosen, but he also wanted to know more about the culture and customs in the digital world. 

" A Caretaker takes care of the digi-eggs and the babies in Primary Village. It's the Elecmon's sacred trust that no harm shall befall any who comes to Primary Village peacefully and that no evil force can enter it to hurt the young ones. Though I am an Elecmon, I'm not a Caretaker. I only recently got out of my own egg and soon I will evolve once again to my Adult state. I have been training for it almost around the clock." 

" You may have heard of me V-mon," Elecmon said with a slight grin," I was once the Protector of File Island."

" You're Leomon, THE Leomon?!" V-mon exclaimed excitingly, _no wonder you could sneak up on me like that._

" It's good to meet you Leomon, I've heard a lot about you." 

" And I of you V-mon. But tell me, what are you doing here on File Island and with a Chosen no less." 

For a moment Ryo was a bit lost in the conversation, he had no idea who Leomon was, but he supposed he had to be someone of importance for V-mon to act like that. Maybe he could ask V-mon later, he didn't want to accidentally insult the Elecmon with his ignorance of his stature. 

" Ryo and I are on a very important mission and now we are looking for the other Chosen you saw. They are the only ones who have answered the summons of Gennai, the others couldn't get through somehow." V-mon explained, knowing he could trust the Elecmon now.

" Wow Wormmon, this Forest sure is big," Ken said after they had been walking for about an hour, " I wonder when it is going to end." 

" I'm not sure Ken," Wormmon replied," but it is pretty, isn't it. Quiet too." 

" It sure is Wormmon." 

After they had a little breakfast earlier in the day the duo had made their goodbye too Elecmon and the little ones. Wormmon had it the hardest 'cause he had lived there his entire life, but he had always known that he had to leave sometimes and he was happy it was with Ken, his new best friend. Ken didn't like saying goodbye to Elecmon and the babies he had played with either, but he knew he had to get moving as well. If he didn't he might never go home, though with Wormmon at his side that wasn't as bleak a prospect as he had thought it would.

So after they had said goodbye, they had entered the forest, though at the opposite side from Primary Village than where Ryo and V-mon would leave it barely an hour later. 

Not really having anywhere to go, nor the need to get there fast, they decided on taking Elecmon's advise and head for Toy Town which was just a few hours travel away. Their pace was leisurely and Ken took the time to study his surroundings. The forest was unlike any forest he had ever seen, though to be perfectly honest he hadn't been in a lot of them. Osamu didn't like forests so his family had never gone on camping trips or anything of the sort. _I'm glad I finally get to be in a forest, it's so strange and wild, but beautiful too, he thought with childlike enthusiasm.   
After a while the gloom of the heavy canopied forest was broken by sunlight as Ken and Wormmon reached a small clearing, the first on they found and for all they knew it could be the last till they left the forest. Deciding this was as good a place as any to rest for a while Ken slumped down against one of the tree-trunks and let his gaze shift to the sky. Wormmon crawled onto Ken's lap and nested himself comfortably in Ken's arms. _

He didn't know how long they'd lain there, or how long his eyes had been closed when a loud screech and explosion rocked the clearing. 

" So they went that way," Ryo said to Elecmon, sighing, " that's not a whole lot to go on, is it. I mean, they could have gone any way in the last hour."

" I agree with Ryo there, Elecmon. While we now know a general direction it is still a wild goose chase." V-mon added.

" Not necessarily," Elecmon said, chuckling a bit," I know that you're both new at this Chosen stuff, so I'll help you out. You see, the digivice you carry around with you, Ryo, can do more than just help your digimon to evolve. It has a tracking ability, which can locate other digivices within a certain area around you. Give it a try, I'm sure Ken, that's his name by the way, is still within reach of your digivice." 

Smiling, Ryo took the digivice out of his pocket and looked at it. Nothing could be seen on the screen of the device but as his finger accidentally pressed on of the buttons two red dots appeared on the screen. One of the dots was in the middle, which he assumed was his dot, and another was near the edge of the right side of the screen. Making a quick 90-degree turn facing the forest he saw that the other dot was now at the top of the screen. 

" Yes it works now we can…" Ryo was interrupted suddenly by the sound of an explosion in the distance. Looking at the digivice and the pillar of smoke that was rising from somewhere in the forest ahead he realized the smoke was coming from where the other Chosen was. _Oh no! He's under attack! _

Elecmon had reached the same conclusion. 

" Ken!" he shouted in anger and frustration. He wanted to help the boy but he had responsibilities here, he couldn't just leave, not while he was still Elecmon. By their law, no Elecmon was to leave Primary Village when an attack could be imminent, so he had to stay here to protect the babies.

" Shit," Ryo exclaimed and broke of towards the forest in a dead run, V-mon close behind. He could only hope they reached the fight in time. 

As soon as the explosion was heard, both Ken and Wormmon were on their feet looking for the source of the attack. Another ear shattering screech brought their attention to the sky were strange creature was making another attack-run. The digimon, in Ken's opinion, resembled a prehistoric flying creature from Earth's history, a Pterodactyl. But instead of a prehistoric flying reptile from the time of the dinosaurs, this one was completely armored, with something cylindrical attached to the wings. As it got real close, Ken could identify the cylinders as missile launchers and his suspicions were confirmed when the creature screamed his attack.

" Side Winder!" The creature screeched in a very high-pitched tone, launching his missiles towards his targets.   

"Sticky Net!" Wormmon shouted, but to no avail. The flying creature was just to fast to be caught by his webbing. Without thinking, there was no time for such a luxury, Ken picked up Wormmon and jumped out of the rocket's path. Missing the target they exploded on impact to the ground, the explosion sending both Ken and Wormmon flying. They hit the ground a few meters away, not moving at all. Ken felt pain, from the shockwave produced by the explosion and of hitting the ground._ Ungh, maybe I can just lay here for a while, to rest. _

However his thoughts were caught short as another screech signaled the digimon's next attack-run. Forgetting about his pain for the moment, Ken got back up on his feet and held Wormmon close to his chest, not an easy task since they were both about the same size. Not risking a glance back he started running towards the trees, hoping they could provide some cover. As he ran he heard the missiles explode were they had been laying just a moment ago. The adrenaline was now completely overriding his pain senses and he just kept running.

Reaching the tree line, Ken hoped that the digimon would just leave them alone. This was not like with the woodmon. That digimon had been slow and Wormmon could capture it with his Sticky Net so they could escape. But this one, this one could fly and was extremely fast and maneuverable, it wouldn't stick in one place long enough for Wormmon to get a good shot in. 

His hopes were soon extinguished as the missiles started to hit the ground around him. Not wanting to lose his prey the digimon was shooting his missiles at random in Ken's general area. Though they missed him, the explosions were ripping holes in the forest canopy and through them the digimon could sometimes see them running and he took full advantage of this as he refocused his attacks. 

He didn't know how long he ran with all the missile impacts around him. He knew he had stumbled a few times, no make that a lot of times, as it was hard to run with Wormmon in his arms. During one such stumble a missile impacted right behind them sending the two sprawling to the ground. 

" Ken, don't do it," Wormmon said as Ken was about to pick him up again. 

" You can't run as well as you could if you carry me, let me walk on my own," Wormmon explained at Ken's confused look. 

" But Wormmon, you're not that fast if I don't carry you," Ken pleaded to his friend, but Wormmon was not to be talked out of his resolve. When the missiles impacted around them again, Wormmon hopped away as fast as he could with Ken following him close behind. 

Not really looking where he was going Ken ran through the forest almost blindly with his eyes closed at times. Not the smartest thing he could do, he realized but he was feeling tired and the monster in the air kept on attacking them. _Please, I don't want to die, he pleaded silently._

Then the moment he had feared would come had arrived when he suddenly walked into something hard, the sudden impact making him fall back on the ground. Shocked he looked up to see what he had hit and in his surprise he saw white sneakers and above them green army-pants. _Why would a tree wear pants? Ken thought in a daze. Shaking it off he looked higher he saw a kid, older than him with spiky brown hair, looking down at him. _

Ryo had been running for a while towards the explosions and he knew he was getting close. Not only were the explosions coming towards him, but the tracking mode of the digivice was indicating that the other Chosen was coming towards them as well. _Great, he thought, __we might still have a chance.  _

" V-mon," Ryo shouted," we are getting closer, get ready." 

"Right Ryo!" V-mon answered eagerly, though he knew he was already prepared for battle. He also knew that Ryo knew this just as well as he did. Even though they had been together for only a few days V-mon had bonded very well with Ryo and the two of them knew what they could expect from each other. 

As the explosions were now almost on top of them, Ryo checked his digivice one more time to see where the other Chosen could be, but when he did he could only see one dot, the one in the middle. _What is this? Only one? Where is the other, could it be that he's dea…ouph! His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when something collided with him, making him stop dead in his tracks. _

Surprised he looked at the offending object only to see a boy, a few years younger than him looking up to him in daze. _This is the other Chosen, that's why there was only one dot! We were so close they coincided, making it seem there was only one dot. _

" Hey, are you alright kid?" Ryo asked, getting a confirming nod from the child. Slowly a caterpillar digimon crawled over to the kid and looked up towards Ryo and V-mon. 

" You must be his digimon right?" Ryo said," good, now just leave this to us. V-mon!" 

" V-mon, evolves to…V-dramon," V-mon said while quickly evolving while the attacking digimon was turning around for another attack. 

" Wow," Ryo heard the kid say at the sight of the evolution and he tried to suppress a smirk at the awe in the young one's face. A smirk that V-dramon wasn't hiding as he glanced towards the other Chosen for a second before focusing his attention on the digimon. 

" Side Winder," the creature screeched it's attack while firing his missiles towards the large blue dragon. 

" V-breath Arrow," V-dramon countered, his energy attack destroying the missiles before they could reach him. 

This angered the flying digimon and it quickly turned around in the air and attacked again.

" Fools," it screeched, his eyes glowing red," you can't defeat Pteramon. Side Winder!"

" We'll see about that, V-breath Arrow."

Once again the two attacks cancelled each other out, neither digimon was able to score a hit on the other. This continued for a few more attacks, till it became obvious that this wouldn't work. Trying a different tactic, the Pteramon increased his speed and tried to attack V-dramon by firing his missile one by one in a circle around V-dramon instead of in a single volley from one direction. This way the attack lost some of it's potency, but made it more difficult for V-dramon to evade the attacks and as a result some of them hit him. 

" AAAARRRRGGGHH," V-dramon growled, then tried to get a hit himself by firing multiple rapid V-breath Arrows at Pteramon, but as a result they were slightly weaker than a normal slower one. However Pteramon easily evaded the attacks with his speed while still relentlessly firing his missiles at V-dramon. 

" V-dramon!" Ryo shouted, " try to evade those missiles!"

" Right Ryo," V-dramon replied, then started to dodge the incoming missiles, stopping his own attacks for the moment. V-dramon managed to dodge most of the missiles but the almost continues array of missiles from the circular attack pattern was making it impossible for him to evade them all. The missiles hitting him caused him pain but he wouldn't go down. The missile that missed him however flew around everywhere blowing away trees and ripping holes in the forest. Ryo had to try and get out the path of a few of them as well.

Knowing that he couldn't win while on the defensive, V-dramon once again tried to hit the Pteramon with his own attacks, but the Pteramon dodged them like they weren't even there. 

Though the Pteramon seemed to be winning the battle, it wasn't going fast enough for the Pteramon's sake. Getting aggravated by the dragon's tenacity to stay on his feet, he started firing his missiles faster while bringing himself closer to the now stumbling dragon. Slowly the new barrage of missiles was bringing V-dramon to his knees, while he was unable to make a single hit on the flying reptile himself. 

" No," Ryo said angrily, " we won't loose this, we can't loose this! If only he would stop moving!" 

Ken was beyond happy when he saw that other kid with the blue lizard digimon that changed into a large dragon. He wasn't alone here after all and now they were going to save him! But that was before the digimon, Pteramon he recalled, was using this circular pattern to attack V-dramon.

" If only he would stop moving!" Ken heard the older kid say angrily. The words started to spark an idea in the young boy's mind. _That's it! We need to make him stop moving around, then that dragon can attack him. _

" Wormmon," Ken whispered, " we need to help them." 

" But how Ken?" Wormmon asked just as silently," if the V-dramon can't hit it then how can I? Besides they told us to stay out of this, they are obviously more experienced than we are." 

" Maybe so, Wormmon," Ken replied. _So the dragon's name is V-dramon, that's good to know. _

" But they can't do it alone. Listen, I have a plan, but we have to hurry. I don't think V-dramon can keep this up for long. So this is the plan, the Pteramon is focussing solely on V-dramon, so we can attempt a sneak attack. When he next flies by you have to hit him with a Sticky Net, understand?"

" I understand Ken." 

Ken assumptions were proving to be correct as V-dramon had now slumped down on his knees, trying to stay in his current form. No longer trying to attack to conserve his energy, he just tried to weather the attack out, maybe he could get an opening to attack somehow and he needed as much energy for it as possible. But what were the chances of having the Pteramon slip up now? _I'm sorry Ryo, I failed you, he thought._

" V-dramon no!" Ryo shouted in anger. He couldn't believe it, they were losing and just when they had found the other Chosen, it just wasn't fair. 

_Dammit, I've got to think of something. But how can I make it make stop so V-dramon can attack? _

" Sticky Net!" He suddenly heard a voice say, before some kind of white projectile shot past him and hit the Pteramon in the face when it made another pass. 

Surprised by the sudden attack and blindness as Wormmon's webbing covered his eyes, the Pteramon forgot to complete his attack run. Disorientated by the shock of blindness it stopped firing and instead of circling around it flew straight forward, crashing into a tree, knocking it down to the ground. 

_Damn, another failure. Oh well, there is always next time, a sinister voice inside Pteramon's mind said._

_What? Pteramon wondered before it suddenly lost all control of his body as he could feel something separating from him on the inside. __What's happening? _

Seeing the Pteramon crash into the nearby trees, Ryo knew this was the time to strike. 

" V-dramon!" He shouted to get the attention of his partner. 

" I…see it…Ryo," V-dramon said tiredly. 

Getting up on his feet, although a little bit wobbly V-dramon turned towards the floored Pteramon and called for all the energy he had left for a finishing move. 

" V-breath Arrow!" He shouted as a blue beam of energy shot from his mouth and collided with the Pteramon, instantly shattering into data fragments. Instantly V-dramon felt his energy fade and he devolved back into V-mon. 

_What? I couldn't have hit him that hard could I? Oh well, small favors and all, no complaining. _

Just then the mass of floating particles solidified somewhat and a black beam shot out of it, just like it had done with the Lynxmon. 

"What the…?" Ryo asked to no one in particular. _What is it with these beams?_

" Wow, what was that thing? Hey! We won!" An excited voice said besides him.

Looking at his side Ryo saw the young boy, maybe 9 years old he reckoned, standing at his side with his caterpillar digimon. _He's so young, how can he be of help against the Mugen Dramon or the God? He thought. __But he did help us with this enemy so maybe it is possible. Still he's rather young so I'll just have to look after him, keep him out of danger as much as possible._

" I thought I told you to leave this to us, " Ryo said looking down.

Ken looked sadly at his own feet. 

" Still," Ryo added with a smile," you did well kid. The name's Ryo, Akiyama Ryo. This is V-mon." 

" I'm Ichijouji Ken and this is Wormmon. Nice to meet you. Are you a Chosen like us?" Ken asked excitedly.

" That he is, kid." V-mon said amiably, " and we've been looking for you."

" You have?" Ken asked.

" Yes, but I'll explain later," Ryo said, " firstly, we need to get back on the way to the warp cave."

" So does anyone know which way to go," he asked after realizing that during the fight he had completely lost his sense of directions. 

" Not really," V-mon replied, "so what do we do now?"

" I guess we'll just have to pick a direction and see where we end up. If it's not the right way than maybe someone can give us directions," Ryo suggested.

" Good idea, uhm, Mr. Ryo," Ken said, a bit unsure of how to act to the older boy. Osamu always wanted him to be polite or not say anything at all. " So which way should we go?"

Looking about him for a moment, Ryo picked a direction at random. Like the others he had no idea where he was and he supposed any direction should do for the moment. _I hope it's the right one, I don't want to lose anymore time. _

" Let's go that way," he said finally pointing towards some trees to the right of them. " That side looks like it had the least damage from the Pteramon so it should lead back to Primary Village. Oh, and just call me Ryo, Ken. No need for formalities among friends right?" 

" Right Ryo," Ken replied smiling.

" Okay, so let's go," Ryo said. 

Hoping the path they choose would lead them back to Primary Village so they could retrace their steps to the warp cave, the four of them set out at once. Seeing that V-mon was feeling kind of tired, Ryo hoisted him on his shoulders to rest.  

" So Ken," Ryo said after a few minutes," do you want to know why we are here and why we were looking for you?" 

" Sure!" Ken replied. 

Author's Notes:

Sorry it took so long, but schoolwork has been keeping me really busy. The next chapter will be posted sooner ( I hope, there are no guarantees, but I'll do my best). 

As always, please leave a review after you've read this chapter. I love getting feedback J

You can also mail me at: black_knightmon@hotmail.com

Till next time!

Preview of the next chapter:  
  


Yes you've guessed it, they took the wrong way after all. After the many attacks from Pteramon on V-dramon, the side of the forest leading to Primary Village was just as damaged as the others. Being lost, the only thing they can do is ask for directions, but when they do they find themselves in more trouble than they had expected.     


	7. Playtime is over

Disclaimer: I don't own digimon. I'm just borrowing them for a while till they are needed again for new episodes.

Ken: "But they don't need us anymore…"

*smirks* I know.

Chapter Six: Playtime is over.

Ryo's log: August 2000, Digiworld, Warp Cave, File Island

Our day on File Island started well enough, forgetting for a moment the rude awakening I got from V-mon. We found ourselves some berries and stuff and departed to look for the Chosen. After a few hours we still had no clue as to where we were going or if it even was the right direction. 

Luckily we reached Primary Village, the birthplace of almost all the digimon. There we heard that the other Chosen (named Ken by the way, but I'm getting ahead of myself), had been there earlier. Using the tracking mode on the digivice that an Elecmon showed us, we were once again on the way. 

Our luck ran out however when we found that Ken was under attack by a flying digimon called Pteramon. V-dramon put up a brave fight, but the creature was to fast for him and it looked like we were going to lose the fight. Then Ken interfered by making Wormmon, his digimon, use some kind of webbing to blind Pteramon when it was distracted by V-dramon. It crashed into the nearby trees and V-dramon took the opportunity to blast the digimon apart. 

As the remains of the digimon slowly dissipated another beam of darkness flew out of them, just like it had done with the Lynxmon. I really don't like the looks of this. 

Oh well, at least we won and for now that's all that matters. Not really knowing where to go I choose a direction and we went on our way. During our walk I took the time to explain to Ken what I knew of the situation. He took it quite well I might add, though I'd rather not have him with us. Don't get me wrong, he was a big help during the last fight and seems like a great kid, but he is still so young. I don't really know how to take care of him, but I guess I have no choice.

End log.

" I knew it," Ryo muttered upon leaving the forest. They had ended up somewhere completely different then where they had started. Instead of the clearing with the warp cave or the valley of Primary Village they were on an empty plain of grass, almost as far as the eye could see. Smaller outcroppings of trees could be seen scattered about but there was little else. 

" Looks like we took the wrong way guys," he said to the group a little louder.

" So what do we do now?" Ken asked. 

" We could go back into the forest and take another direction, " Wormmon offered. 

" We could, " Ryo answered, " but that could leave us lost in the forest for a long time with no guarantee of reaching our destinations, the cave or Primary Village." 

" We'd have a better view of our surroundings if we try to cross the plains, maybe we'll see someone who can give us directions," V-mon said. Wormmon and Ryo nodded at V-mon's suggestion, but Ken was paying it no heed. He was to busy trying to discern something on the horizon. 

" So I guess we should…" Ryo started to say when he was interrupted.

" Hey! What's that over there?" Ken asked suddenly, pointing to one of the dark forms on the horizon. Most of those forms were just groups of trees, but this one was formed to angular to be trees. 

" It looks like…a town," Ryo said after they had watched the form for a while. 

" I think I agree Ryo," V-mon added. 

" Great! Maybe they will know the way to this Warp Cave we need to find!" Ken said excitedly, " come on!" 

He started walking towards the town, not waiting for the others. Wormmon scooted after Ken almost immediately, but Ryo and V-mon stood there looking at each other for a moment. 

" He's really excited about all of this isn't he?" V-mon remarked. 

" Yes I know," Ryo replied dryly, _sigh, how am I going to look after this kid? He thought. _

Setting foot as well, they quickly caught up with Ken and Wormmon. Ryo once again took the lead with Ken following either close behind or at his side. V-mon and Wormmon followed behind them. 

Somewhere during the trip Wormmon noticed that V-mon kept staring at him when he thought that Wormmon wasn't looking. _He did the same thing in the forest, he though, __it's making me kind of nervous. Why is he doing that?_

Finally getting enough of V-mon's staring, he decided to confront V-mon and ask him to explain his behavior. Hopping to V-mon's side he looked sideways to V-mon who was doing all he can to ignore him. 

" Why did you keep staring at me?" Wormmon asked," and why are you ignoring me now? Have I done something to you? If I have than I'm sorry." 

" What?" V-mon asked, looking Wormmon in the face now, " no you haven't done anything. I was just wondering, you are a Virus type aren't you?" 

" Yes, I am. Is that a problem?" Wormmon asked sincerely, at least V-mon could detect no lie. _He really doesn't know? He wondered briefly._

" It's just that I find it strange that a Virus could be a Chosen Child's partner." 

" And why is that?" Wormmon asked, wondering why something like that would matter. He had never paid much attention to types before.

" Don't you know that Virii have almost always been evil? " V-mon demanded.

" Not all of them! Ogremon is not evil, I'm not evil." Wormmon proclaimed. 

" He's right you know," Ken said, now walking next to them, Ryo a few feet up front. " He's my best friend and he's not evil." 

" I know that kid," V-mon said softly," but during all my travails I've never seen a good virus for myself." 

Deciding to drop the matter V-mon sped up and started walking with Ryo, leaving Ken to walk with Wormmon. _Maybe the kid is good, I'm probably just getting paranoid, V-mon thought, __they wouldn't partner someone evil to a Chosen anyway._

After about an hour or so, they finally entered the town late in the afternoon. 

" Strange," Ken said as he took in his surroundings. 

" I'll say, " Ryo added," looks like dollhouses to me." 

Indeed, the town seemed to consist of a variety of large dollhouses, all of them in a slightly different style. 

" I wonder if anyone lives here," Ryo wondered out loud. 

" Halt!" Was said suddenly, " Yes halt!" Another voice added. Looking towards the commotion, they saw two small digimon seemingly made from black building blocks.

" What's going on here," V-mon asked.

" Hey that's our question," Toy Agumon said.

" Yeah, we are the guards, that's our question." The other added. 

" I said that already," the first one quipped and faced the second. 

" I know, I said it too," the second one said facing the first. 

_Some guards, V-mon thought, __I could have taken them out any time I wanted. _

" Excuse me, " he said loudly, " but could we remain focused on what's important here?" 

The two ToyAgumon turned towards the four of them again, seemingly surprised they were there. 

" Oh yeah that's right!" The first said," so what are you doing here in Toy Town!" 

" Nothing, we are just lost," Ryo answered," maybe you could give us some directions." 

" Oh no, we couldn't do that." The second ToyAgumon said in shock. 

" Why not?" V-mon pressed. 

" We don't know anything outside of Toy Town, " the First one answered V-mon, " besides now that you're here you should meet with our leader." 

" Maybe he could help you. He's very friendly and lives in that palace over there," the second one offered. 

" Really? A palace!" Ken piped in, excited at the prospect of going to a real palace 

" Yeah it's a beautiful palace," ToyAgumon2 said just as excitedly. 

" Can we go there, Ryo? Can we? We could ask for directions there!" Ken asked Ryo.

_Oh man, Ryo thought, __we don't really have time for this. But since these clowns can't help us I guess we have no choice._

" Sure, take us there." Ryo finally said, but with far less enthusiasm then Ken had displayed.

It took them a few minutes to reach the palace, but when they did they could see that it was indeed beautiful. The palace was about the biggest building in Toy Town and like the others it too had the architecture usually seen in a doll palace. Once there the two Toy Agumon left them and a Nohemon, a digimon looking like a scarecrow, took over escorting them inside.

The inside was that of a royal palace with floors of white marble and red carpets. The walls were white as well with giant gold-framed paintings of puppet-type digimon portrayed in them. 

Following their guide through many large halls and corridors and ascending a few flights of stairs, they came to a large wooden door. 

" This is the master's chamber, " their guide said, " he's waiting inside for you." 

" Thank you," Wormmon said when no one else did. Ken was obviously in awe about meeting the leader of Toy Town in his palace. V-mon looked a bit distrusting, but he seemed like that most of the time and as for Ryo, he didn't look too happy either. 

_Must be because of what they have been through, Wormmon thought, considering the things Ryo and V-mon had told them earlier._

Opening the doors for them, the guide stood aside and let them enter. Once they had done so the doors were immediately closed behind them, making all of them jump a little.

" There is no need for alarm, " a friendly voice said to them. Trying to locate the source of the voice they finally found it sitting in a large chair in front the fireplace. 

" Welcome to Toy Town," he said, approaching the Chosen and their digimon, " my name is Pandamon and I'm the ruler of this beautiful town." 

" Hello, I'm Ryo," Ryo said, shaking Pandamon's paw. He looked just like a panda bear, with a white body and black arms and legs. His head was white as well, except for two black circles around his eyes and black ears. The only thing about him that wasn't black or white was his red cape and his cobalt blue eyes. At times though his eyes seemed to be almost a bloodshot red, but that was probably just a trick of the light caused by the fire in the fireplace.

" These are V-mon, Ken and Wormmon," Ryo continued while the others also shook hands with the bear digimon, though Wormmon's handshake was a bit awkward considering his physique. 

" Very nice to meet you all," Pandamon said friendly, then showed them to some chairs around the fireplace, " come, please sit with me. Tell me some more about yourselves. I've heard from my subjects that you are looking for something."

" Yes, we are looking for a warp cave that can take us back to Sever," Ken immediately said. 

" That's 'Server', Ken." V-mon admonished.

" Oh right, sorry," Ken replied, feeling a bit ashamed to have made a mistake in his enthusiasm about talking to a real royalty.

" Ah Server, I think I know what you mean," Pandamon said smiling. 

" You do? Can you tell us where it is so we can continue our travels," Ryo quickly said before Ken could open his mouth again. _Sometimes that kid talks too much, Ryo thought but he couldn't really blame him._

" We don't want to seem ungrateful for your kindness here, but we really should get going." He added.

" I understand, I'm not offended. But the trip to the cave is quite long from here. You'll have to take the long road if you don't want to end up lost again. I'm sorry but that's the only way there is. If you go now you'll certainly won't make it before the night falls." Pandamon explained, seemingly sad that he couldn't be of help much.

Then, as if he just thought up a solution, he looked happier again. 

" I know, why don't you spend the night here? It's already late in the afternoon so you can't travel very far today. Please I insist." 

" Well," Ryo started, looking at his companions one at a time to see what they wanted. Ken and Wormmon were for staying, V-mon didn't really care much either way but was more inclined to staying as well. 

" We except your kind invitation," Ryo said to Pandamon.

Smiling brightly, Pandamon said," Excellent, now why don't I let some of my servants show you to your rooms while I take care of our dinner reservations. You really should tell me more about yourselves at dinner."

With that he stood up and at once the doors to the room opened showing Nohemon, the scarecrow digimon again. 

" If you would follow me please, " he said then guided them out. Taking a look behind him as they walked away, V-mon could see Pandamon standing in the door opening. He was smiling at them in his cheerful and friendly manner, but the effects were spoiled a bit by the red glow in his eyes, making him look kind of sinister. 

They were soon brought to the guest wing of the palace, which was just as white and decorated as the rest of the palace. Pandamon had arranged for them to get four rooms, but they declined saying they'd want to remain with their partners. So Ryo and V-mon got one room and Ken and Wormmon the other. The rooms were identical in every way, and didn't differ much from the rest of the palace either. The walls were white with many artful decorations and the floor was a red fluffy carpet. There was a bed, large enough for the four of them to lie in together. The rest of the room was furnished with a large wooden table, chairs and a couch. Closer observations to the closest revealed them to be filled with clothes in many different sizes, colors and styles. 

" Well, I'm not going to wear something like that," V-mon said in slight disgust at the extravagant clothing.

" Don't worry, you won't have to, " Ryo insured him.

" Dinner will be ready in a few hours," Nohemon said politely to the four of them, after they had inspected the rooms, " in the meantime you can go anywhere you want. Just, don't go into the lower levels, it's quite dirty in there." 

With that he bowed and left them, Ryo beckoned the others to follow him into his room. They quickly sat down on the couch. 

" So what now Ryo?" Ken asked. 

" Now we wait for dinner," Ryo replied, " I don't know about you, but after traveling for days I think I'm just going to relax here till then." 

" I'm with you Ryo," V-mon said, still thinking about those red eyes. 

With Ryo slumped down on the bed and V-mon doing likewise, there was nothing left for Ken and Wormmon to do but leave. At first Ken thought about going to his own room to rest, but he wasn't feeling tired so he dismissed that idea. Thinking about Nohemon's words that they could go anywhere they wanted an idea formed in his head. 

" We're going to have a look around the town okay?" Ken said when they stood at Ryo's door.   
" Sure, but be careful," Ryo replied. 

" We will," Ken said before closing the door.

The town looked just as remarkable as it did on their way to the palace, but this time he could take his time to observe everything. The houses were remarkable and beautiful, but Ken soon lost his interest in them as he had seen all the different styles and was able to recognize other styles as mixtures of the first. 

The digimon on the other hand were far more interesting. Most of the digimon were puppet digimon like Toy Agumon, Clear Agumon, Nohemon and Doggymon, the latter being very annoying at the moment.

" Get away from us!" Wormmon almost shouted to the dog darting around them and hitting them whenever they let their guard down. 

" Ha ha ha ha ha!" The dog started laughing at them, totally unimpressed by Wormmon standing protectively in front of Ken to shield him from the offensive digimon.

Moving away from Doggymon, Ken and Wormmon soon found themselves in an alley between two buildings. Now out of the main street the Doggymon only got more aggressive now that they were out of the public's view.

Further they retreated into the alley and the light was now almost completely blocked out by the tall buildings surrounding it. In the gloom of the alley the digimon approached menacingly, an evil glint visible in his eyes. 

" Leave us alone," Ken shouted to the digimon. 

" Or else what," the dog barked at them.

" Or you'll be sorry," Ken replied, narrowing his eyes as anger overcame him, " Wormmon!" 

At once Wormmon shot out a sticky net at Doggymon, but he evaded it. Not wanting to give the digimon any time to recuperate Wormmon shot out more of his webbing at him, but Doggymon was faster than Wormmon's attack.

Lunging forward Doggymon punched Wormmon out of the way and into some nearby trashcan's, knocking them over and on top of him in the process.

" Oh no Wormmon," Ken shouted to his fallen friend in concern. He didn't have a lot of time to worry about Wormmon with Doggymon approaching.

Ken egged backwards, trying to get away, but the move was futile. The alley, Ken could see when he spared a glance behind him, was a dead end. The wall at the back had a broken sewage drain in it, but Ken didn't think he'd be able to get inside it in time. 

" Now you are mine! Ultra Bite!" It barked and lunged at Ken to bite him, his mouth wide open showing his teeth.  

As it was nearly on top of Ken, something pink shot past him and into Doggymon's mouth nearly choking him. In shock he stopped his attack and spit out the offending object. Both Ken and Doggymon watched it in shock till more of the pink things shot past Ken and hit the Doggymon all over. 

In surprise Ken turned around and saw that the sewage drain was now completely opened up and a stream of green blobs was coming out of it, throwing pink sludge at Doggymon. They made a protective circle around Ken and continued throwing their sludge at Doggymon completely burying him in it. 

" Wow, " Ken said looking at the pile of sludge formerly known as Doggymon. Stopping their attack, the Numemon made an opening in the circle for Wormmon and he took the opportunity to return to Ken's side. Then the circle closed and slowly the Numemon started pushing Ken towards the sewer. 

" You must come with us," they whispered to him and he followed them into the sewer.

After a few seconds the pile of sludge was tossed aside from the inside revealing a very dirty Doggymon. Looking about himself he noticed the alley was completely empty, even the sewage drain was completely intact again. Not knowing what else to do he turned tail and ran out of the alley. He only took weak enemies who were alone, not a whole mass of Numemon.

Deep down in the sewers underneath Toy Town, the Numemon were leading Ken and Wormmon away from the drain. They finally stopped in a large chamber and Ken sat down on a creaky wooden chair at an equally shoddy table. Wormmon scooted up the table and sat in front of Ken. The Numemon gathered around them and then an elderly Numemon hopped onto the table facing Ken. 

" Hello young one," the Chief Numemon said, " I'm the chief of the Numemon."

" Hi, I'm Ken," he replied," thank you for saving us. We are in your debt." 

" It was nothing Ken, don't worry about it," the Chief said, then after some hesitation continued," but we would like to ask for your help." 

" My help?" Ken asked, wondering why this many Numemon could possibly need his help. And he had said that he was in their debt so refusing would be rude. _Ryo's not going to like this._

" I don't like this Ken," Ryo said solemnly. Ken had returned to the palace shortly after the Chief Numemon had explained why they needed help and quickly made his way to Ryo's room. Now he, Ryo and Wormmon were discussing this strange development. 

" But they need our help," Ken pressed, " they said that Pandamon isn't the ruler of Toy Town, that he has taken Monzaemon, the real leader, captive. And now the Chief's people are being driven away from Toy Town, the one place where they have been welcome." 

" Even worse, more and more Numemon who have ventured close to the palace have disappeared and not returned."

Ken was now determined to try and do something to help the poor Numemon, but Ryo took a more objective view of the circumstances. 

" Maybe Ken," he started, then quickly raised his hand to silence Ken, " maybe it is indeed as the Numemon told you, but for all we know it could be the other way around. I do agree with you however that something strange is going on, but we shouldn't do anything till we know more." 

" Okay, " Ken said meekly, seeing the wisdom in Ryo's words. After all it could be possible that the Numemon were lying to him. However he still thought the Numemon were telling the truth, they seemed too sincere to him to be lying. 

" But what do you mean Ryo, what's strange around here?" 

" I'll explain," Ryo said with a smile, happy to see Ken taking his advice and that the kid was paying attention," after you left both V-mon and myself went to take a look around the castle, each going another way to cover more ground. He hasn't returned yet, which worries me also, it's almost time for dinner. 

But anyway, everything here seems fine, everyone's happy. But that's what bothers me, they are all too happy, to much trying to help you. And they try to keep you away from the lower levels, claiming it is to dirty. They…"

A sudden knock on the door stopped him from continuing. Getting up and eyeing the door warily stepped forward.

" Yes? Who is it?" 

" It is I, Nohemon, good sir," the voice of their guide sounded, " I've come to get you, dinner is being served." 

" Ah yes, just a moment please," Ryo said then turned to Ken and Wormmon. 

" Remember what I've said and let me do the talking," he said in a low voice. 

" Ow my head," V-mon moaned as he slowly regained consciousness. The first thing he noticed was that he was in a cold stone cell. On three sides there were only bricks, very solid and strong bricks, the remaining side of the cell was a door, made of bars. Aside from him the only thing in his cell was a wooden cot and he was laying on it.

" Where am I?" He wondered, trying to remember what had happened when he had lost consciousness. The last thing he remembered was walking the halls of the palace, trying very hard to reach the forbidden lower levels. He wondered what those levels hid, that they weren't allowed to enter them. Like Ryo he didn't trust the overly friendly attitude all the servants had and he didn't quite miss the look of fear in their eyes either when he kept asking about those levels.

Knowing that the only way to find out what was there was to actually go there, he quietly proceeded to make his way down. Keeping out of sight when servants passed he finally managed to sneak past them and enter the floors he was unable to get to earlier. That was when something hit him and all went black. 

" You are in the fair guest chambers of the benevolent Pandamon of course," a voice said dryly from an adjoining cell. 

" Of course, how could I not see it. The splendor of it all must have dazzled me for a moment, but all is clear now," V-mon replied just as dryly. 

" Ha! A sense of humor, how long it has been. I'm Monzaemon, former lord and protector of Toy Town. And who are you my friend?"

" I'm V-mon. I came here with some friends to ask for directions, but our generous host bade us to stay the night. I wanted to take a look around the place and got hit in the head." 

" So you tried to get to the dungeons on the lower levels didn't you. Ha! Pandamon couldn't allow you to do that now could he." 

" Obviously not," V-mon replied, " so how did you end up here?" 

Dinner was held in a large banquet hall at a large, heavily decorated, table. Only a small portion at one of the ends of the table was used. One on side Ryo, Ken and Wormmon sat side by side and on the other a smiling and cheerful Pandamon. After they had arrived in the hall and were greeted by their host they immediately began eating. While they ate Pandamon asked them about their stay at his palace and Toy Town. For their part, the three companions replied truthfully, or at least as truthfully as they could bring themselves to be, that the palace was beautiful and the town a very nice place to live. Pandamon also asked them about their travels, what their business was on File Island and what their ultimate goals were.

" We are here because we had to pick up Ken, then we'll leave," Ryo said honestly, " after that we are going to look for a man called Gennai. He supposedly knows how we can get home. That's what we are going to do."

The last part was a lie, but Ryo didn't want to tell Pandamon about their mission. 

" If I may ask a question," Ryo ventured, and Pandamon nodded his consent, " do you by any chance know where my friend V-mon has gone." 

" No I do not," Pandamon said shaking his head," a real pity, I would have liked to have spoken to him. But I'm sure he'll turn up soon. In fact, I'll send my servants out to look for him after dinner, if that's fine with you."

" It is, thank you Pandamon," Ryo said, bowing his head politely.

The rest of the dinner proceeded in a similar manner. Pandamon would ask question and engage them in conversation and they would answer truthfully for the most part, unless it went about their goals. Surprisingly most of the questions seemed to end up on the subject of their missions and goals. Pandamon shrugged those occurrences of by stating that he was just curious as they were the first Chosen he had met. But Ryo had the distinct impression that Pandamon didn't trust them and was afraid of something. 

_I'm very honored to finally meet the Chosen after being ruler of Toy Town for so long, Ryo remembered Pandamon saying.   _

_It was a town made where toys lived under the guard of their protector Monzaemon. Monzaemon, Monzaemon, not Pandamon. The words spun through his head._

Ryo recalled reading about it in one of the Prodigious One's posts on the message board a while ago. Pandamon was not the ruler of Toy Town then, but a digimon called Monzaemon. _You're lying Pandamon, he thought smugly. _

" Yes the food is wonderful, Pandamon," Ryo said with a smile, hiding his inner thoughts. 

" Ken," Ryo said to Ken as they were walking back to their rooms. They had declined the offer for a guide as they already knew how to get there and didn't want to burden anyone. 

Now that they were alone Ryo finally had a chance to tell Ken of his own suspicions.

" Yes Ryo?" Ken said.

" You have to do something for me, it's very important." 

" What do you mean?" Ken asked.

" You have to get out of this palace at once, do you understand? You have to leave." 

" Why?"

" Because I believe those Numemon were speaking the truth. Something very wrong is going on here and I don't trust that Pandamon at all. I think V-mon has been captured. He was probably trying to reach the lower levels and was caught. I'm going to try and rescue him, but first I must make sure you get out of here." 

" No Ryo," Ken said," I can help you." 

" Ken no, you have to get out of here and hide. Remember that we have a mission that comes first. If anything happens to me, you will have to continue the fight. You can't do that if you're captured along side with me." 

Ken tried to protest to this, but Ryo didn't change his mind. Saying a quick farewell in which Ken promised to escape the Palace to continue the fight and Ryo assured him that he fully intended to escape as well, Ken turned towards the main hall and Ryo went into the shadows of the now darker hallways.

It didn't take Ken long to reach the front gates and the two Toy Agumon guards. As expected they quickly stopped him from leaving the castle.

" Halt where do you think you're going?" the first guard asked. 

" Yes halt," the second one said.

" Is there a problem sirs," Ken asked meekly. 

" Uhm, I don't know? Is there?" Guard2 asked, turning towards his colleague.

" It must be, " Guard1 said, " what was the problem again?" 

" I thought you knew?" Guard2 replied. 

" It must be very serious then," Ken said drawing the attention of the two guards back on him again. He was playing a dangerous game, he realized but so far it seemed to be working. He still remembered the two from when they had entered Toy Town and from his first impression he drew the conclusion that the two of them were lacking a bit in the brains-department.                                                                                                                                                    

" The problem, I mean," Ken said calmly," if you can't remember it, it has to be bad otherwise you wouldn't have forgotten it right?" 

" Uhm? Right?" the guards said, trying to follow Ken's logic. He was so calm about it so it must be right.

" Exactly, It wouldn't do for me if I kept you two from remembering the very important problem. So I'll just go and stop distracting you, I heard the city is beautiful in moonlight, I just want to see it."

" Yeah sure," Guard1 said, trying to remember what the problem was, totally forgetting his orders to keep everyone inside the castle. 

Slipping past the two of them Ken and Wormmon quickly exited the castle. _Idiots, he thought with a smile on his face, but dropped it when he thought of Ryo and V-mon. __Don't worry guys, I won't fail you. I will find a way to help you._

And with those thoughts he quickly tried to find the alley he was in earlier. 

Meanwhile Ryo had managed to reach the lower levels, which weren't as crowded by night as they were by day. Evidently no one was supposed to be up and about during the night. They were also a lot darker than the upper levels, which suited Ryo just fine, the darkness of the halls was a great place to hide in.

_Lucky me, he thought, then stopped dead in his tracks and quickly hid himself behind a pillar. Waiting for a moment to calm down, he looked past the pillar further down the hall. At the end of the hall a digimon stood sentry, a gray rabbit digimon, Gazimon. _

" Man, this is so boring," Ryo heard the Gazimon say. 

Looking around for a way to get past the digimon, Ryo noticed some small stones at his feet. _Guess the lower levels really are dirty_, he thought sarcastically. 

Picking up a stone he tossed it back up the hallway, making a clattering sound when it hit the floor. The Gazimon heard the noise and quickly ran towards it, to find the source. As the Gazimon came close to the pillar Ryo was hiding behind, Ryo readied himself. The moment the Gazimon passed the pillar he maneuvered himself to the other side to remain unnoticed. 

With the Gazimon now behind him and the road ahead cleared, Ryo wasted no time and continued down the hall.

Seemingly taking hours, though he knew it couldn't be that long, Ryo reached the dungeons under the palace. He had expected to find something like this, but still he was surprised to see it actually there. 

_Good thing Ken isn't here, he thought as he ventured into the lion's den. There didn't seem to be any guards so he expected it to be a trap. Going through the door to the cellblocks he found them to be empty. __Maybe V-mon is further down, he reasoned.  At last he found another door at the end of the cellblocks. Listening at the door to try and figure out what was behind it, but he could hear nothing. Figuring that he didn't really have a choice he opened the door as quietly as possible, hoping not to run into a bunch of heavily armed digimon. _

The door opened to a large room and another small hallway of cells. While the other cells were all unoccupied these ones weren't and walking inside he could see V-mon in the first cell. Sneaking inside the room, past the sleeping Gazimon guard, he went to the cell. 

" Hey V-mon, " he whispered. 

" Ryo," V-mon whispered back, quickly standing in front of the door. Grasping Ryo's hand to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him he visibly relaxed. 

" Thank Goddramon you're save, " he whispered," after I was caught I was worried the same would happen to you. Ryo, you have to get me out of here." 

" Can't you do it yourself?" Ryo asked.

" No, the bars are made of the hardest metal around, Chrome digizoid. I can't break it, you will have to get the keys." 

" Do you know where they are?" Ryo asked. 

" I think I saw them with the guard. Hurry Ryo, you must free us. We are not safe here in this place." 

" I know," Ryo said, " it was Pandamon who imprisoned you, wasn't it." 

" Yes Ryo, I was caught trying to get down here. Monzaemon, the digimon in the next cell told me that Pandamon has taken over the town. He brings digimon here, mostly Numemon, and apparently takes their energy." 

" Shit," Ryo exclaimed," then I must hurry." 

With that he quietly made his way to the sleeping Gazimon and noticed that the keys were attached to a letter belt around his waist. Working as fast and as careful as he could, Ryo finally managed to get the key without waking the Gazimon. Not waiting another second he went to V-mon's cell and opened it. 

" Well done Ryo, " V-mon said getting out of the cell, " now we must free Monzaemon." 

" Well, well, what do we have here?" A chilling voice suddenly said from the room's entrance. Turning towards it they saw Pandamon staring at them with glowing red eyes. 

" A bunch of uninvited guests so it seems, " he said," you shouldn't have come here young one." 

With that the cell-keys flew out of Ryo's hand and into Pandamon's paw. He then looked at them menacingly and grinned. 

" Now your energy will also be mine," Pandamon said.

" I don't think so!" V-mon boldly called out," V-mon evolves in V-dramon!" 

Standing in the room, blocking of the hall of cells for Pandamon, V-dramon now stood." 

" Ah, so you want to fight," Pandamon said calmly.

" Yes!" V-dramon yelled then dashed forward and made a swipe with his claws at Pandamon. Shocked V-dramon stared at the rips he made into Pandamon's body, inside them he could see a gray material, kind of like a cloak. 

" No, it can't be," V-dramon exclaimed. 

" But it is," Pandamon said in the coldest tone they heard from him so far. 

Jumping back, V-dramon could barely avoid being hit by a scythe, which had suddenly appeared in the Pandamon's now clawed hand. Then Pandamon started to hover and his body changed. He now no longer had any legs, and his body was completely covered in a gray robe, the hood of his red cape hiding his face. Only glowing red eyes could be seen in the darkness of the hood. Around his neck he had a golden chain with an amulet attached to it. They eye of the amulet seemed to be alive with energy.

" It's a Phantomon!" V-dramon said, recognizing this very dangerous Perfection digimon. 

" You have to help us! Ken begged the Chief of the Numemon. After finding the sewage drain he had spend minutes banging against it and shouting for the Numemon to appear. They finally came and took him with them after a few minutes and now he was trying to acquire their assistance. 

" We can't Ken, we are no match for Pandamon," the Chief sighed. 

" But you are a match for him, as long as we are together. My friend Ryo is underway to the dungeons as we speak to free Monzaemon." _Okay so it's technically V-mon he is looking for but they don't need to know that, he thought._

" My friends are very powerful, together we can win, I know it!" 

" I don't know Ken," the Chief said doubtfully, but the boy would not be swayed. 

" Look," he said frowning, as he was about to lose his patience, " you can stay here in your comfortable little sewer, waiting for Pandamon to take you one at a time. Or you can come with me and help stop this nightmare forever, now what are you going to do." 

Thinking about it and mumbling amongst themselves, the Numemon saw the logic in Ken's words and were inspired by the kid's courage. The Chief saw it to and the effect it had among his people. Ken was right, if they did nothing they would surely die, but now they'd have assistance in their struggle, which might just be enough to win. 

" Alright, come with me Ken." The Chief said finally.

Following the Numemon through the sewer tunnels they stopped at a wall and as Ken could see it was severely weakened.

" What now?" Ken asked.

" This wall is all that separates us from the dungeons under the palace. We were planning to use this to enter the dungeons and free the captives." The Chief explained then looked down in shame," but we were to afraid to put the plan into action." 

" Don't worry about it," Ken said to set the Numemon's spirit at ease, " now we must get through this." 

Meanwhile the battle against Phantomon wasn't going well for V-dramon. Not only was the Phantomon a level higher than he was, but something else was increasing its strength beyond that of a normal Perfect. 

" You can't defeat me, " the Phantomon stated calmly," I have taken the energy of dozens of digimon." 

With that the eye amulet started glowing in a purplish light enveloping Phantomon like an aura. He then turned to the Gazimon guard who was cowering in a corner of the room. 

" You have failed me," he said, then appeared right before him. The Gazimon didn't even have time to scream before he was deleted by the scythe.

" No!" V-dramon shouted in anger. Though he was held captive by this guard he didn't deserve to die like that. 

" V-breath Arrow!" He shot his energy blast at Phantomon, but the ghost just phased away, appearing again in front of V-dramon. 

" Nice blast, here's one of mine," it said shooting a purple energy beam from his amulet at V-dramon. The blast came from pointblank range and was impossible to dodge, knocking V-dramon into another wall. V-dramon had seldom encountered such a powerful blast, not even the missiles from that Pteramon had been this painful. Looking up slowly from his position on the ground he could see Phantomon hovering over to him. 

Hovering above the fallen dragon, Phantomon raised his scythe, a malicious gleam visible in his eyes. 

Then suddenly the wall behind suddenly blew up throwing several rocks inside the chamber. Drawing his attention away from his fallen foe, Phantomon turned his head to the commotion. What he saw surprised him, a large number of Numemon jumped out of the hole in the wall. For a moment the two sides just stared at each other in surprise. Phantomon had never expected the Numemon to invade his dungeon and likewise the Numemon had never expected to find Phantomon. Taking the initiative, Ryo stood next to V-dramon and tried to help him back up on his feet.

" Numemon!" Ryo shouted," that Phantomon was posing as Pandamon! Get him!" 

At the statement, Phantomon quickly snapped his head back towards Ryo, angered that the boy would speak up against him like that. 

Ken looked at the threatening ghost and felt a momentary twinge of fear at the sight of it. But remembering that it wasn't a real ghost, but a digimon he shook it of.

" You heard him, get that stupid ghost!" Ken shouted from the hole in the wall. As the Numemon surged forward, Ken and Wormmon tried to reach Ryo by moving close to the wall opposite of Phantomon. So doing he came to be at a feet away from Phantomon's side. 

Phantomon meanwhile was being totally covered by the Numemon, giving V-dramon the chance of getting back on his feet by help of Ryo. 

" V-dramon you have to do something. I don't think they are going to hold out much longer." Ryo said in concern.

" I know Ryo, I know what to do." 

Concentrating himself he started to gather all of his energy for his most powerful V-breath Arrow. While he was gathering it a bluish aura formed around his body. Ryo looked at it in awe and hoped it would be enough. 

" Enough!" a shrill and cold voice shouted out of the mass of Numemon. Purple light started to emanate from the mass right before the Numemon were all blown away. Many of them were instantly deleted but the Chief and several others survived, though they were now unconscious. 

" V-breath Arrow!" V-dramon shouted when the Numemon were blown away. From the dragon's mouth a huge beam of energy shot forth, straight at Phantomon, before the ghost had time to react. When it hit the enemy digimon an explosion occurred knocking all the occupants of the room away. A large dust cloud hung in the center of the room where the Phantomon was hit. Staring at it in suspense they waited for it to dissipate, hoping the ghost had been defeated. However when a purple energy suddenly dispersed the dust cloud their hopes were shattered.

Still in the same place the ghost hovered, though he looked a bit worse for wear. His robe and hooded cape were singed and tattered, but otherwise the digimon seemed unharmed. 

" Fools, an adult can't beat me!" He sneered in anger.

" No, if only we could have freed Monzaemon," Ryo said dejectedly, looking over at V-dramon who was looking very tired. After spending so much of his energy it was all he could do to stay in his adult form. 

" Silk Thread!" A voice shouted as a thread of silk shot at the key in the Phantomon's claw yanking it away and back to Ken's hand.

" Well done Wormmon," Ken said to his digimon, then looked at Ryo. 

" Ryo!" Ken shouted then threw the key as fast as he could. Moving away from V-dramon he caught the keys. 

" No!" Phantomon cried out and charged Ryo to prevent him from freeing Monzaemon. 

" I don't think so." V-dramon said as barged into the ghost's way. " Hammer Punch." 

The attack held little power but it did keep the evil ghost busy for a moment. Wormmon to started to attack Phantomon with everything he got, but the strings had little effect on the Perfect. Still the time they bought was enough for Ryo to reach the bear digimon's cell. Desperately trying to find the right key to open the cell door before the Phantomon could stop him he tried the first key of the set and felt it enter the lock effortlessly. Turning the key the lock snapped open right when V-dramon was knocked away. Jumping backwards as the cell door was hastily opened Ryo caught his first glimpse of Monzaemon. The large yellow teddy bear looking digimon strode out of the cell and faced Phantomon. For a moment the two Perfect level digimon just stared at each other. 

" I knew you were evil Pandamon, but I never expected this." Monzaemon said solemnly. 

" I know, I fooled you all," the Phantomon said triumphantly, " and now I will drain all of the digimon in Toy Town of their energy and become the most powerful force in existence!"

" Never," Monzaemon said calmly, " Heart Attack." 

Large pink hearts shot out of Monzaemon's tummy toward Phantomon. Grasping his claw around his scythe, the ghost watched them approach him. As the hearts got closer he quickly slashed them apart. Grinning evilly his purple aura increased in magnitude. 

Trying to get make a hit Monzaemon continued to use his heart attack, but Phantomon easily swatted the hearts away. Slowly Monzaemon felt his strength flowing out of him. 

" What's happening," he asked silently," why do I feel this weak? Could it be that…" 

Not finishing his statement, Monzaemon was starting to wobble a bit on his legs. 

" Ha! I was wondering how to drain the power out of a Perfect level digimon, but all this time all I had to do was simply fight you!" Phantomon said in triumph. 

As Ryo looked at him he suddenly realized what it was that gave the ghost so much power. It was his amulet, the energy was stored inside it. 

" V-dramon! The amulet! It's his source of power!" Ryo shouted over to the fallen dragon from behind Monzaemon. 

" So you figured it out, human, " Phantomon said, " but this knowledge won't help you, no one is left standing to fight me and Monzaemon here will soon be drained." 

" Hammer Punch!" 

" What?!" Phantomon exclaimed as the large blue dragon suddenly entered his sight with a grin on his face. The dragon was looking positively haggard but he still had enough strength in him for one attack. His fist was unblocked and hit the amulet straight in the eye, making a large crack appear in the middle of it. Having used up all of his energy in this last attack V-dramon devolved back to into V-mon and fell down on the ground. Shocked by the sudden attack Phantomon forgot about the incoming hearts form Monzaemon. Though there were a lot less hearts with Monzaemon weakened it was still enough. Many hit the Phantomon and dissipated without doing much damage, but one of them hit the cracked amulet, shattering the evil artifact on contact. The effects on Phantomon were instantaneous. With his amulet destroyed there was nothing to keep the powers absorbed in it in check. The moment the amulet was destroyed the purple energy exploded outwards and totally enveloped Phantomon. Phantomon, who was already hurt by V-dramon's attack earlier in the fight, had no way of controlling the onslaught of power that racked his body. Unable to hold out much longer, the Phantomon let out one last scream of agony and defeat before being utterly destroyed by the power that he had desired for so long. 

Looking at the remaining data fragments Ryo was expecting another beam of darkness to appear, but to his surprise none appeared. 

_Weird, must mean this Phantomon had nothing to do with that beam and that mysterious 'master'. He thought.    _

With Phantomon defeated Ryo ran past Monzaemon and picked up V-mon. 

" Oh V-mon, you gave it your all, " Ryo said in the unconscious lizard's ear," you did great V-mon." 

Crouching on the floor with V-mon in his arms, Ryo was quickly surrounded by Monzaemon, Ken and Wormmon. 

As they were all together, Monzaemon thanking Ryo and Ken for their help, a golden light suddenly appeared in the chamber.

" What's happening, " Ryo whispered. Slowly the light got brighter and came towards Ryo. As it neared Ryo it suddenly coalesced into a strange golden shard. Grabbing it the light vanished and left all of them in surprise.

" What just happened?" Ken asked to no one in particular. 

" I don't know," Monzaemon said," but might I suggest we think about somewhere more comfortable?" 

And with those words they left the dungeons, Ken and Wormmon taking point, followed by Ryo who had pocketed the golden piece and was now holding V-mon and Monzaemon who was holding the Numemon. As they ascended the levels of the palace their progress was observed by many-surprised digimon. Many were happy to see their beloved leader again, but others who had actively helped in keeping Pandamon in power weren't so glad. In fact many of them hastily left the castle during the night as soon as they heard the news.    

Barely a half an hour later, Ryo, Ken, Wormmon and the now conscious V-mon were once again in the dining hall. The inhabitants of Toy Town were so happy to have their protector back that they had prepared a large meal for them all. Now the four of them were dining along with Monzaemon and the surviving Numemon. 

They dined in silence for now that the adrenaline of the fight had gone away, they were feeling pretty tired. After dinner the four of them returned to their rooms to sleep for Ryo wanted to leave Toy Town as soon as possible. They had spend a few days looking for Ken and who knew how long it would take them to find Mugen Dramon. 

If we wait to long he might grow into his powers, then we won't have any advantage left, he thought somberly as he brought up the blankets and closed his eyes. 

His last thoughts before he fell asleep weren't focused on battle or Mugen Dramon however, but on the golden object he had recovered after beating Phantomon. It was slightly rounded on one side with strange markings on it. He had brought it out of his pocket a few times during dinner to just look at it. It felt strange to have it, but also at the same time it felt right to have it. 

_Strange, I wonder what it is, he thought before sleep overcame him.  _

Author's Notes:

Another chapter done, one of the longest so far. The next one should hopefully be out early in January, I hope. 

Anyway, Happy Holidays and till next time! 

Preview of the next chapter:

After receiving a message from Gennai at Toy Town, Ryo and his companions set out for Server. However they are unaware of the welcoming party awaiting them in Chida Village. 


	8. An unexpected Welcome

Disclaimer: I don't own digimon. I'm just borrowing them for a while till they are needed again for new episodes.

Ken: "But they don't need us anymore…"

*smirks* I know.

Chapter Seven: An unexpected Welcome.

Ryo's log: August 2000, Digiworld, Toy Town, File Island

We got lost, I should have known it would happen. We finally left the forest but not at the place we wanted to be. Lucky for us Ken spotted a town on the horizon so we decided to ask for directions there. That proved to be a big mistake in hindsight. 

All seemed well at first, we were greeted by the leader of Toy Town, Pandamon, and were invited to stay the night. During our short stay Ken met some Numemon when he was touring the city, who told a different story about the 'benevolent' Pandamon. Meanwhile V-mon and I had decided to check out the palace. Digimon were overly friendly and used some weak excuses why we couldn't go to any of the lower levels. Something fishy was obviously going on, but we needed more information. Well, I got what I asked for when V-mon didn't show up for dinner. As he never misses a meal I became very suspicious. I figured that he might have been captured while he was sneaking around, so I told Ken to leave the palace while I looked for V-mon. 

I finally found him in the dungeon along with the real leader of Toy Town, Monzaemon, but Pandamon showed up to. It turned out the Pandamon was a Phantomon in disguise, who had been stealing energy from other digimon for a long while. We managed to beat him after I had freed Monzaemon with help of Ken and his Numemon friends. When we had done so a strange golden thing appeared before me, what could it be?

End Log.

Sitting on the edge of his bed, Ryo was again looking at the golden shard in his hands. He felt it was important somehow, but he didn't understand why, he didn't even know what it was. V-mon wasn't any help either as he to had no idea what it was. The entire night it had appeared in his thoughts, disrupting his sleep. _What are you? He thought. _

"Hey Ryo, are you coming?" V-mon asked at the door. He had gotten up a bit earlier than Ryo and had already spoken with Monzaemon about breakfast. _Always thinking with his stomach, Ryo thought. _

"Yeah, sure V-mon, I'm coming," Ryo said, pocketing the golden object he stood up and followed V-mon.

At about ten O'clock the four companions had joined Monzaemon again in the dining hall for a bit of breakfast before they would set of again.

"Hey Ryo!" Ken called out when he saw Ryo and V-mon entering the room. Ken and Wormmon were already sitting at the large table, eating as much food as they could. 

"Hey! Leave some for me, you pigs!" V-mon shouted goodheartedly as he too quickly joined the others in eating. 

"Good morning, Monzaemon, Ken, Wormmon," Ryo said as he sat across the two youngest members of his team and next to V-mon. While the others talked excitedly about the battle yesterday with Monzaemon and the numemon who were still quests in the palace, Ryo couldn't keep his mind off the golden shard and the dangers ahead of them. 

Noticing that Ken was giving him worried glances during breakfast he shook of his depressing thoughts and put on a smile. 

"Well Ken, are you ready to set out again today?" he asked Ken. 

"Sure Ryo! I'm looking forward to seeing Server and traveling through the warp cave. Is it really true that we'll cross hundreds of miles in a second?" 

"Maybe not hundreds," V-mon said with his mouth stuffed with food," but certainly a lot." 

"Cool!" Ken said.

About an hour after they had started breakfast, Ryo, Ken, Wormmon and V-mon were standing once again at the entrance of Toy Town with Monzaemon and the Numemon. 

"Well, I guess this is goodbye," Monzaemon said. 

"It is," Ryo said, turning to the bear digimon, "I'd like to thank you for your hospitality, Monzaemon."

"There is no need to Ryo," Monzaemon told him," if it wasn't for you and Ken, I'd still be in the clutches of Phantomon and Toy Town would have been destroyed." 

"Still, I'd like to thank you for your hospitality." 

A few feet away Ken was also saying goodbye, but he was doing it with the Numemon. 

"I'll miss you guys," he said sadly," and I'm sorry I got the others killed."  

"Don't think of it that way Ken," the Numemon Chief said, "digimon don't really die, their data gets recycled and reborn. And if it wasn't for you convincing us to fight, the outcome of the battle might have been completely different. We don't have regrets and neither should you. We are forever in your debt."   
"Nah, we are even," Ken said with a smile. 

With their good-byes made, the four of them started to leave when another voice suddenly spoke.

"Hey Ryo, V-mon, where are you going?" 

Surprised at the sound of the voice, they turned towards it, seeing a holographic image of an old man.

"Who is he?" Ken asked, _could it be that Gennai guy?_

"Gennai?" Ryo asked in surprise at seeing the old man.

"Yes it's me, or rather, a projection of me," Gennai said in usual cheer," ah, I see you're in Toy Town. That's good, I take it Monzaemon has showed you his excellent hospitality." 

"He did," Ryo said. 

"After we saved him," V-mon added. 

"Really? Saved him?" Gennai asked, though he didn't sound all that surprised.

"Yes Gennai, a Phantomon disguised as Pandamon took over Toy Town." Monzaemon said coming over to the holo.

"Interesting, it's good that Ryo came this way then," Gennai said with a small smirk making Ryo believe it wasn't really chance that got them lost. "It's also good to see you again Monzaemon but I really need to talk to Ryo in private for moment."

"I understand Gennai," Monzaemon said, then he and the Numemon departed the scene. Waiting silently till the others had departed Gennai looked over the four of them, glancing a bit longer at Ken and Wormmon. 

"Gennai," Ryo said," I'd like you to meet Ichijouji Ken and Wormmon." 

"Nice to meet you Ken, it's good to see you here." Gennai said with a smile to the young boy.

"Hello Sir," Ken said. 

"And so polite too," Gennai chuckled. 

"Yes, very nice Gennai," V-mon interrupted hastily," but could you get down to business, you said you had to tell us something. We don't have all day you know." 

"Yes, yes," Gennai said, not at all fazed by V-mon's rudeness," I understand perfectly, as you should know V-mon. But anyway, I've been looking over every resource I have at my disposal to find something that could help you. And I think I may have found something!" 

"And?" V-mon pressed after Gennai had fallen silent for a moment," don't keep us in suspense man." 

"Oh right sorry," Gennai said," I guess I kind of drifted of for a moment. Anyway, in some ancient text I found out about another way of evolution that may come in handy. It's called "Armor Evolution", it's a very ancient way of evolution. It works by using a 'digimental' to help the digimon evolve." 

"I've heard of this kind of evolution Gennai," V-mon said looking at Gennai like he had lost his mind, " but it only gets digimon up to an alternative adult form, a slightly weaker one at that in attacks, but a bit stronger in defense. I already have achieved my adult-form Gennai, this isn't helping any." 

"I'm not crazy V-mon, "Gennai said, still smiling. 

"Then how can this 'armor evolution' help us?" Ryo asked.

"A normal one can't, but I've found references of a special Golden Digimental which has the power to bring a digimon up to Perfection level. And since it's an armor evolution it takes up almost nothing of the digimon's own power supply!"

"That's great Gennai!" V-mon said.

"It is, now we may have a better chance," Ryo added, but his smile faded when he saw Gennai's face, "what's wrong?" 

"Well even though the Golden Digimental would be a big help, it is said that the egg was split into several pieces by the Sovereigns, The Powers That Be of digiworld, because of its power. And unfortunately I have no idea where the pieces might be." Gennai explained.

_Golden pieces? Ryo thought, __could it be that?_

Involuntarily his hand went to his pocket and the golden shard he kept there.

"Then we will just have to find them," Ken voiced. 

"Right Ken," Wormmon said.

"Easier said then done, Ken," Gennai said," very unfortunate for us, I'm afraid."

"Maybe not," Ryo said as he revealed the golden piece to Gennai.

"Ryo, where did you get that!" Gennai exclaimed in wonder.

"It appeared after we beat the Phantomon last night," Ryo explained," I don't know how though." 

"This is excellent!" Gennai said enthusiastically," Ryo, bring forth your digivice if you will. And let it touch the Golden Digimental piece." 

"Why?" Ryo asked as he took the digivice from his belt.

"Trust me," Gennai said.

Everyone looked at Ryo is suspense, waiting for him to bring the two objects in his hands together. He didn't know why, but Ryo trusted Gennai's words. Bringing the two objects together slowly, the shard began to glow a slight golden light. When they touched the golden light passed on to the digivice. After the light subsided the shard was gone, leaving in its place another device. His digivice had also changed Ryo noticed, it was now sort of egg shaped. The color had changed as well, it was now light blue with white highlights. 

"Wow," he said, almost whispering.

"It is as I expected," Gennai said, breaking the silence that had fallen after the transformation of the digivice and the golden shard, "your digivice has changed to accommodate for the ability to armor evolve. That other device you are holding is called a D-terminal and is means of storage for the Digimental you hold, or in this case for its pieces. It can also be used for communication."

Opening the other device, Ryo watched a small screen with an egg-outline on the display. Part of the outline blinked, indicating the part of the digimental they already have in their possession, Ryo realized.

Closing it again, he pocketed the device and holstered the digivice back on his belt. 

"You will have to find the other pieces for the digimental to help you, but I have fait in you Ryo," Gennai said, "You will find a way to do it. Speaking of ways, I assume you know the way back to the Warp Cave?"

They all nodded and Gennai continued, "Well after you return to Server, you will have to travel west to reach the ruined city of Mugen Dramon. It will take you some time to reach it, a week or two I suppose."  

_Two weeks, that's what I was afraid of, Ryo thought._

"Gennai, can I have a word with you in private?" Ryo asked the hologram, his voice almost devoid of emotion.

"Huh? Sure you can Ryo, what's on your mind?" Gennai asked. 

"What is it Ryo?" Ken asked, worrying about him for a moment. 

"Nothing Ken, now please leave me alone with Gennai for a moment please," Ryo said a bit more vividly. 

"Okay," Ken said, then he and Wormmon went a small distance away from Ryo and Gennai.

"Should I go to Ryo?" V-mon asked.

"No, you can stay V-mon. I just don't want Ken to hear this." Ryo said, _I have to protect him, I just have to somehow._

"What's this about Ryo," Gennai asked.

"Mugen Dramon." Ryo said," he's an Ultimate and after having faced a perfection like Phantomon I think I understand the balance of power in this world a little bit better. You said we'd have an advantage because he hasn't grown into his power yet, but we have to travel for about two more weeks. Isn't that enough time for him to get to know his power? And even if he doesn't and we manage to reach Perfection level, than he is still a lot more powerful than we can ever be." 

"Ryo," Gennai sighed," you may be right, but we mustn't let that stop us. I admit our chances are a bit lower than I the once I gave you earlier, but we can't give up hope." 

"You understand me wrong Gennai," Ryo said, looking over at Ken," I'm not giving up, I know what I have to do." 

Looking back to Gennai, "But I don't like being lied to, I want to hear the odds for what they are and face them head on." 

"I understand Ryo," Gennai said," you are a lot braver than I thought you'd be. I was afraid you would refuse if you knew how bad the situation really was, but I was wrong. Good luck Ryo, V-mon."

"Goodbye Gennai," Ryo and V-mon said as the hologram disappeared.

Meanwhile about a mile outside of Toy Town a group of digimon, all of them Gazimon, was hiding in a small outcropping of trees. Just last night they had to make a quick escape after their master, Pandamon, had been defeated by a human and a dragon. The bear digimon had offered them great power in exchange for their help in conquering Toy Town, but all of that was gone now. Some of their own hadn't even returned yet either. 

"What do we do now?" Gazimon1 said.

"How should I know?" Gazimon2 replied angrily.

"We have to hide, they are sure to come after us to kill us all," Gazimon3 said.

They others thought about this and started nodding their consent. 

"No," another voice said calmly, though his voice was kind of raspy," you shouldn't do that. Hiding won't help you." 

"Who are you?" Gazimon2 demanded.

"I'm called Shadramon," the voice said, revealing himself to the Gazimon from behind the trees. A black, bipedal digimon stood in front of the Gazimon. Almost his entire body, except for his upper arms, lower legs and the back of his head, was covered in a dark red armor with flames on it. On his back he had butterfly-like wings, also with flames pictured on them. "And I'm your friend." 

"Our friend?" Gazimon1 asked skeptically.

"Yes, your friend. I heard about what happened to you and I have news about your missing comrades. I'm afraid it is very bad," Shadramon said compassionately, "you see, they have been killed." 

"What!" The Gazimon were shocked and outraged to hear the news. And as they watched Shadramon and listened to his words their rage seemed to increase. 

"They were all killed, brutally I might add, by the dragon V-dramon on orders of the human called Ryo. Oh, I'm so glad you weren't there to see it, it was beyond horrible. They were ruthless. I saw them do it with my own eyes, to the Gazimon guarding the prison, to the one who stood guard in the halls…" He said, trailing of at the end.

"Those monsters!" Gazimon2 yelled. 

"Let's kill them!" Gazimon3 added. 

The other Gazimon were now screaming similar threats, much to Shadramon's amusement.

"No wait!" Gazimon1 suddenly called out, controlling the rage he felt inside him," have you forgotten they killed Pandamon! We don't stand a chance against them. We will only get ourselves killed."

This seemed to calm the Gazimon down somewhat, making Shadramon frown. _You have a strong will, little one, it won't help you though, he thought. Adding a bit more power behind his Psychic Wave, hopefully enough to stimulate the Gazimon's anger but not enough to have them notice what he was doing, the Shadramon continued his persuasion. _

"But you _can win, you see they only managed to brutally slay Pandamon with the assistance of Monzaemon. They are alone now, making this the perfect opportunity to have your revenge. I know where they are, I can bring you to them and help you exact the proper revenge for what they did to you and your fallen comrades." _

Observing the Gazimon, Shadramon could see the murderous glint in the one who had spoken against him before. _I have them now, he thought, __for the glory of the Master._

"So this is the cave?" Ken asked when they reached the site of the cave after about an hours walk.

"It is." Ryo said, "Come on." 

They quickly entered the cave, Ryo didn't want to have any more delays. It was bad enough it would take them more then a week to reach Mugen Dramon, he didn't want to add anymore time to that if he could help it. 

The cave was just as it was when they were first in it, dark and not really worth anyone's notice. That is, until they reached the end of the passage and the chamber that would take them to the Server in the blink of an eye. The chamber seemed to emanate a light of its own, but remained unnoticed till they were practically standing inside the room. 

"Amazing," Ken said, wondering how the light could have remained hidden from their sights.

"The room remains hidden by a digital barrier, right V-mon?" Ryo observed as they stood in the center of the room. 

"It does," V-mon said, then after a few seconds," that should be enough I think." 

"Agreed," Ryo answered, then followed V-mon out of the room.

Ken looked on in slight surprise then he and wormmon looked at each other. Shrugging, Ken followed Ryo and V-mon out. The cave seemed exactly the same as before and taking a glance back he noted that the light was once again gone. 

"Are we really there already?" Ken asked Ryo when he had caught up to the older boy. 

"See for yourself Ken," Ryo said with a smile when they exited the cave. Instead of the woodland clearing they were now on a hillside overlooking a grassy plain. 

"Incredible," Ken said as he and Wormmon took in their surroundings. It took them only a moment to notice that Ryo and V-mon were already moving along the side of the large hill to the other side. Rushing over to follow them, Ken looked about him in interest. 

The trip downhill took a lot less time then the one going up, much to Ryo and V-mon's delight. It didn't take them all that long to reach Chida Village. It may have been faster to head west at once, but Ryo wanted to check up on the digimon living in the now ruined village. 

Only a few days had passed since the town was attacked by Lynxmon and almost completely leveled, but Ryo could see they had made a lot of progress. The main house, Chuchidarumon's dwelling, was completely fixed, though not very clean. _At least the digimon have a roof over there heads again, he thought. He still found it hard to swallow that anyone could want to lay waste to a peaceful village as this one. And to make it even worse, the offending digimon was working on orders of someone else and that someone was still at large, causing trouble._

"Hello there!" Ryo called out to a young Tsunomon as they entered the village. 

"Ryo, you've returned," the Tsunomon said excitedly as he hopped to them, "mayor Chuchidarumon will be so pleased to see you again." 

Glancing over to Ken and Wormmon, the Tsunomon chirped happily. 

"And I see you've brought friends," he said. 

"Yes, these are Ken and Wormmon, fellow Chosen like me." 

"Good to see you again, Ryo," a heavier voice said from the town," and your friends as well." 

From behind the buildings Chuchidarumon strode, looking pleased to see Ryo again and to show him the advances they had made in rebuilding the town. 

Leaving the Tsunomon behind, Chuchidarumon showed them the repairs they had made. Aside from the roof of his own house, which now housed all the baby digimon, they had also managed to repair several of the less damaged houses. 

"You've come a long way," Ryo complemented him on the repairs.

"Yes, but we wouldn't have come this far if we hadn't received some unexpected help. Some of your acquaintances came by asking for you and then decided to stay and help us." 

"Who?" V-mon asked. 

"Well here they are right now," Chuchidarumon said as three figures walked up to them. Ryo recognized them at once as the Terrible Trio; Turuiemon, Thundermon and Tsukaimon.

"What are you doing here," Ryo asked them accusingly, remembering the times they had been attacked by them.

"Why Ryo, we came to help that's all," Turuiemon snickered, "could we have a moment in private with our old friends mayor?" 

Seeing no reason to refuse the request, Chuchidarumon bade them farewell for the moment and went to help in some more of the repairs.

"At last we meet again, Ryo," Turuiemon said after Chuchidarumon had left earshot of them, "now we can finish what we started." 

"I should have known you'd be out for a fight," Ryo said with contempt. Yet another distraction, another waste of his valuable time. 

V-mon was already bracing himself for the upcoming fight, but Ken and Wormmon were looking on in surprise, not really knowing what this was all about. 

"Wait!" Ken suddenly shouted, then stood between the two forces," you can't fight here, the town might be destroyed again." 

"You're right Ken," Ryo said," but I don't think that matters to these digimon."   
"Now wait a minute!" Thundermon said.

"Yeah! We care! After all we helped rebuild this place." Tsukaimon added.

"We agree with the kid, we will fight outside of the town." Turuiemon said, looking around the town they had helped to restore. _Strange how things go sometimes, he observed, __we came to this region to terrorize it and here we are helping in rebuilding it._

A small smile formed on his face, something that wasn't lost on Ken, _wonder why he's smiling? The boy wondered, __maybe he cares for this place._

Agreeing about something for once, they all started to make there way out of the town together. The Terrible Trio at the front followed by Ryo and V-mon and then Ken and Wormmon.

Letting Shadramon lead them on their quest for vengeance they had arrived at the Warp Cave only fifteen minutes after Ryo and Ken had. Still fueled by the rage that the insect-dragon had awakened in the Gazimon, they had no doubts about Shadramon's words that this cave would take them to their prey.

_This is almost too easy, Shadramon thought._

"This is it, my compatriots," he said to them, still using his Psychic wave attack. The continued use of his attack was needed to keep the Gazimon motivated and under his influence but he was beginning to feel the drain of it. _Can't stop now, he thought, following the dark drive inside his own soul to cause as much chaos to the Chosen known as Akiyama Ryo._

"Just go inside the cave, vengeance is close!" He pressed. 

Watching first as all the Gazimon entered the cave he quickly followed, smirking at the fruition of his plans.

"Alright," Turuiemon said, after a few minutes," that's far enough." 

At about a distance of a few hundred meters away from the city the Terrible Trio turned around from there front position and faced the Chosen.

"Now we are going to have our fight!" Tsukaimon said, grinning in anticipation.

"And this time we are not going to lose!" Thundermon added. 

Taking the opportunity that presented itself as his opponents voiced the challenge, he quickly evolved into his adult form, V-dramon. The blue dragon cracked his knuckles and grinned at the digimon in front of him.

"Alright, who's first?" he asked, eyeing each of them individually. Tsukaimon was a child digimon so one swat would probably be enough to knock it unconscious. Thundermon, an adult, was a fast flyer with heavy thunder attacks, so he would have to strike quickly while he was still hovering above the ground with his friends. Turuiemon, another adult and the leader of the group, was more in his league. Like V-dramon himself he was incapable of flight, so he wouldn't face the same problems as he might with Thundermon. Further limiting Turuiemon was the rabbit's inability for ranged attacks, like his V-breath Arrow, so if he kept his distance the rabbit couldn't hurt him. _This is going to be a piece of cake, he thought. __Hmm, cake, I could use some of that. Haven't eaten since we left __Toy__Town__. _

"Focus please, V-dramon," Ryo said quietly in the dragon's ear as if he had read his thoughts.

"Right Ryo," he murmured, not wanting the three digimon in front of him know of his slight embarrassment, a little louder he continued; "Now answer my question, who goes first? Or do you want to go at it at the same time like the cowards you are?" 

"No!" Turuiemon snarled angrily, "I will go fi…" 

"Wait!" Ken suddenly interjected, taking a few steps towards Turuiemon and passed a surprised V-dramon," I don't understand. Why do you want to fight?" 

For a moment all of them could only stare at the young boy as his innocent question sunk in. 

"Uhm, because they beat us," Thundermon said.

"Twice!" Tsukaimon added.

"I think we got that part," Turuiemon said dryly, placing his hand over his eyes in humiliation. After a moment he shook of his humiliation and glared at the child who had managed to bring these unfortunate occurrences back to the surface. 

"They have taken our honor, kid," Turuiemon said," and now we will take it back." 

"But you attacked them first," Ken said," they only defended themselves. You speak of honor, but you didn't act like that when you attacked them. You don't have to fight, why can't we all be friends?" 

Once again the boy's honest and innocent words put them off their feet. 

"Ken, sometimes we can't all be friends," Ryo said putting a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Listen to the human, uhm Ken, he's right." Turuiemon said, _when he looks like that it's just like those baby digimon. No I can't think like that, these humans are nothing like digimon._

"These digimon only care for causing terror, they don't care about others," Ryo droned on.

"Hey!" Tsukaimon said.

"I resent that," Thundermon added, "we do care, we've helped these digimon rebuild their town!"

"Only so you could lay a trap for us," V-dramon interjected. 

"No! Well, uh, maybe at first," Tsukaimon admitted.

"You see Ken, they only thirst for their vengeance," Ryo said pulling the boy back. V-dramon took a step forwards and so did the Terrible Trio. 

"Now, let's begi…" V-dramon started saying, but was interrupted by some sort of explosion in the town. All eyes turned towards the town, which now had a reddish glow coming from one of the sectors. 

"Oh no, not again," Ryo said exasperated. Aside from the explosion the sound of screaming reached their ears. 

Hearing the screams and explosions coming from the city all thought about fighting each other vanished. Though somewhat loath to admit it, the Terrible Trio cared for what happened to the town they had helped to rebuild and the innocent digimon that called it their home. Not waiting another moment they all started running back to the town hoping they would still be in time. During the run back to the town, Ryo found himself running next to Turuiemon, who had a worried look in his eyes when Ryo spared a glance at him.

"Human," Turuiemon said brusquely.

"What do you want, digimon," Ryo answered accentuating the last word to counter the rabbit's condescending tone.

"The town is in danger," Turuiemon said slowly as if he was still considering his words, "I propose a truce, at least until we have saved the town." 

"Agreed," Ryo said after a moment, he knew it was wisest to form a truce with the three digimon as not to increase the numbers of foes they would have to battle. There was no doubt in his mind that they would need every digimon on their side if the attacker, or attackers, where as powerful as Phantomon, though he sincerely hoped it wouldn't have to come to such a fight again anytime soon. 

"And the name is Ryo," he added, right before they entered the town again. 

The town was in chaos, with screams coming from multiple directions. Knowing the best course of action would be to split up to cover more ground, Ryo quickly shouted his orders. 

"Turuiemon, we need to split up! You go left, we'll go right." Not waiting for a reply Ryo turned right, flanked by V-dramon and dashed past two damaged domes. Risking a glance behind him he could see Ken and wormmon trying to keep up with him. Turuiemon and the others were gone and for a moment he was surprised they'd actually done what he told them to. _Can't dwell on that now, Ryo realized, as after he had made his way past a few domes he was faced with a group of digimon that didn't belong in the town. _

A group of about five gazimon and an unknown bug-like digimon were ravaging the buildings. The bug was obviously in command, but the gazimon were acting strange. Ryo couldn't put his finger on it, but they seemed somewhat out of it, like they weren't fully sane. They were growling and moving about like rabbit animals, all that was missing was the froth at their mouths. 

It didn't take the bug digimon long to notice him and V-dramon standing between two buildings looking at them. The fire-bug seemed to grin with his, though how that was possible with a mouth like Wormmon's was beyond him. 

"Ah, if it isn't young Ryo, Gennai's Chosen boy and V-dramon the brute dragon. So good it is to see you here, "the digimon said to them, not making any move to attack. The gazimon had also stopped their vandalizing of the domes around them to look at the pair in murderous rage. 

"You seem to have me at a disadvantage," Ryo said calmly, buying some time to assess the situation fully. The opposing digimon had them outnumbered, though Ryo was sure that V-dramon could take care of the rabbit rabbits without much problem, he wasn't so sure about the bug's strength though. 

"As you obviously know who we are. Tell me, who are you then and why are you attacking this town." 

"Why how rude of me," the bug said in a mocking tone, similar to the one Ryo was using, " allow me to introduce myself, I'm Shadramon and we are attacking this town because they are harboring a known criminal." 

"What are you talking about?" Ryo demanded, narrowing his eyes. He could feel that Shadramon was playing some sick game, the result of which he most likely wouldn't like in the slightest. Grinning wickedly, the Shadramon turned slightly to his gazimon minions. 

"Look my compatriots, that's the foul monster who ordered your master's death and murdered your friends. That's the demon you've come to destroy." 

"Ryo did no such thing, he didn't kill any of your friends, your master did! He was really a Phantomon who wanted to kill everyone," Ken shouted from behind Ryo and V-dramon. He had just arrived to hear Shadramon's last words since he couldn't keep up with the older boy and the dragon. 

"Ah, the young Ichijouji boy, Ken isn't it? So good of you to show up as well. But I'm afraid your plights fall on deaf ears, these gazimon only feel rage and won't listen to anyone but me," Shadramon said triumphantly with a smirk. 

"What have you done to them?!" V-dramon demanded, already having a fairly good idea what it was that happened to them. 

"The question isn't what I've done to them, it's what they are going to do to you!" Shadramon remarked, pointing suddenly at the four of them. "Now attack!" He shouted and as one the Gazimon lunged forward, snarling like mad beasts. Shadramon, knowing the Gazimon couldn't possible win alone, flew up and prepared to attack as well. 

_Can't believe I'm actually doing what that brat says, Turuiemon thought, __but he does know what he is doing. _

"Move it you guys! We've got a town to save!" Turuiemon shouted to his two friends. He wondered who was attacking this town now and if it had anything to do with that Ryo boy. When they came here they had wanted to fight Ryo and wouldn't have cared what happened to the town, though they didn't feel like that anymore. The human seemed to attract trouble where he went, Turuiemon thought grimly. 

Not long after thinking that the three of them exited an alley between two domes and came face to face with about fifteen mad Gazimon. 

"Hey, what do you think you are doing?!" Thundermon yelled to the destroying horde. 

There goes the element of surprise, Turuiemon noted, but it didn't really matter. They may be outnumbered five to one, but Gazimon weren't the strongest digimon around and are only at child level. Both he and Thundermon are adults and Tsukaimon, though a child like the Gazimon, could fly and was sneaky enough to hold his own in combat. Still, it may be more profitable if they could resolve this without fighting. 

At Thundermon's question the horde of enraged Gazimon all turned to the interlopers, but didn't attack. In fact, apart from all of them looking at the Terrible Trio they seemed to be ignoring the three. Weird, even for those digimon, Turuiemon thought.

"Look, we don't have to fight, "Turuiemon started saying, "If you just leave quietly we'll forget this ever happened okay?" 

The Gazimon just stared at them, seemingly unable to understand what they were being told. 

"If this is about that Ryo kid, "Turuiemon continued, "You'll just have to pick a number and stand in line behind the rest of us." 

At the mention of the name 'Ryo' the Gazimon suddenly started growling and flexing their claws menacingly. 

"Murderer," They snarled, barely unrecognizable under all their bestial growling. 

"Oh, oh," Tsukaimon said, flying at the left side of Turuiemon's head. 

"Indeed," Turuiemon said dryly, "looks like we'll have to fight. But only knock them out, don't kill them."

From the corner he could see some baby digimon hiding in a damaged dome, they were looking at the three of them to save them. He didn't want them to witness any killing, not at that age. Besides, if they could win the fight without killing it might just make them even bigger heroes. _I can get used to this hero stuff, Turuiemon thought before the first gazimon were upon him. _

They all just lunged forward at the three digimon, not using any of their trademark attacks.

Three jumped in front of Turuiemon, but the purple rabbit held his ground bracing himself for his own attack. 

"Swift Secret Punch," he said, punching the right-most Gazimon in its face with his right fist. Immediately he shot out his left fist, landing it on the left Gazimon. Like the first Gazimon it also fell down unconscious leaving only the middle one to take care of. If the Gazimon had been thinking clearly they might have used their own attacks to bring down the rabbit. A Paralyze Breath followed by a few Pitfalls would take care of about any adult digimon, but they weren't thinking at all it seemed. So like the others the third Gazimon also fell quickly by Turuiemon's fists. 

"This is too easy," the purple rabbit mumbled. 

Flying to fast for the Gazimon to catch him, Thundermon surveyed his foes. He knew they were only child digimon so this fight should be pretty one-sided. _Not like with that blue lizard, the thought entered his mind unbidden and he ignored it. _

The Gazimon kept jumping up, trying to reach him, their feral minds couldn't think of anything else. It was quite a comical sight those jumping Gazimon provided. 

"This is truly unbelievable, "Thundermon said, "Thunderbolt!" 

Shooting balls of electricity from his now glowing hands, Thundermon was able to take out six of the Gazimon in a few seconds. Their unconscious bodies hit the ground hard, but the impact didn't wake them up.

Four other Gazimon immediately tried to attack Tsukaimon, but he did nothing as they approached him. Hovering above the ground at their eye-level he waited for them to come closer. When they were a few feet away Tsukaimon shouted, "Purple Fog," and took a deep breath. In that time the Gazimon had crossed the remaining distance between and in a close group they were now right in front of him. 

_Easy pickings, Tsukaimon thought, __they should have spread up instead of cluttering together._

Exhaling, Tsukaimon released a purplish fog on the four digimon in front of them. The results as the Gazimon inhaled the fog were instantaneous and Tsukaimon flew up a few feet to evade the sleeping bodies of the attacking beasts.

Looking over to Turuiemon and Thundermon he could see that only two more Gazimon remained, but they were also easily taken care of by Turuiemon.

"This was way too easy," Tsukaimon remarked when all the Gazimon were laying unconscious on the ground. 

"Yeah, it seemed like they weren't even trying, they were like wild animals." Thundermon said. 

Slowly the hiding baby digimon were coming out of their shelter, looking timidly at the bodies of the Gazimon and at the three of them. 

"Don't worry, you're safe now, "Turuiemon reassured them.

"R-really?" a Tsunomon asked meekly.

"Yes, really," Tsukaimon said, looking at the red glow rising above the domes in the distance. Obviously the fight was still going strong at the site that Ryo had chosen. 

"Just stay away from the red glow and you should be fine. Maybe you should try to find Chuchidarumon and let him take care of these demented rabbits, while we go and take care of the other attackers" Turuiemon told the Tsunomon.

"Okay, we'll do that!" the baby said enthusiastically, then added, "you're real heroes." 

Staring at the kid, letting the words sink in they realized that they were heroes in a way. They had been helping the town to be rebuilt and now they were defending it without getting anything for it in return. Quite dangerous potentially and not something they were prone to do, but the look of gratitude and admiration was making it all worthwhile. 

Maybe that other human is right, maybe vengeance and terror isn't the right way to live. 

"Just run along now little one, "Turuiemon said, turning his back on the babies and started to run towards the other battle. He needed to clear his head and the fight just might help him do it.

Meanwhile the battle against the five other Gazimon and Shadramon had begun in earnest. Pulling back Ken away from the fight and shielding him from it with his own body, Ryo surveyed the situation. The Gazimon were an easy thing to take care of, they were so under the Shadramon's power that their rage blocked out any coherent thought, even battle strategies. But the Shadramon was a different matter all together; the dragon-bug was letting the Gazimon distract V-dramon so it could get a free shot in at the dragon. _Can't let that happen, Ryo thought. _

"V-dramon, watch out for Shadramon! You'd better take the others out quick, but don't kill them, they aren't responsible for their actions!" Ryo shouted over the roars of battle.

"Right Ryo," V-dramon responded, punching one of the Gazimon away. He had to keep moving so the fire attacks of Shadramon couldn't hit him. 

"You can't keep this up forever V-dramon, or should I say Loser-Dramon! The rabbits are slowing you down, it's only a matter of time." Shadramon boasted, firing his Flare Buster attack, which consist several fireballs shot from his clawed hands. 

"We'll see about that," Ryo muttered, then proceeded more loudly for Wormmon to hear him, "Wormmon, help V-dramon. Use you're webs to immobilize the Gazimon. With only Shadramon to worry about this fight will be a lot easier." 

"Sure, Ryo," Wormmon said and hopped away from Ken. He really wanted to stay with Ken, to protect him, but he realized that he could do that better in another way. 

"Sticky Net," Wormmon said, shooting a net all over the Gazimon that V-dramon had knocked away. 

"Good work Wormmon," the dragon said, but winched when one of Shadramon's attack hit home. 

"Sticky Net, "Wormmon shouted again. Another net hit one of the Gazimon, this time it was one who was just about to lunge at Wormmon. The others were also quickly taken care of, V-dramon would knock them down and Wormmon's webs would make them stay there, whether they were conscious or not. The battle was over in about a few seconds, but during that time V-dramon had suffered several hits by Shadramon's fire. 

Right now, the bug was looking down at them from the roof of a nearby dome, smirking with his strange bug-like beak. 

"Well done V-dramon, Wormmon, but they were only an appetizer; the main course has yet to come." Shadramon boasted gleefully.

"Bring it on, I haven't eaten in hours." V-dramon replied. 

"As you wish, "Shadramon said, "but this meal will give you a heavy indigestion."

"Could you knock it out with the food jokes?" Ryo said annoyed.

Flying away from the rooftop Shadramon hovered in the air above them, fire dancing on his claws.

"Flare Buster," Shadramon started shooting fire at both V-dramon and Wormmon, both of them sometimes only barely able to dodge the attack. In the meantime the two digimon on the ground weren't able to hit Shadramon for the creature could dodge their attacks to fast.

_Man, this is the battle with Pteramon all over again, Ryo thought__, wait a minute!_

"Ken, does this battle look familiar to you?" Ryo asked, a small smirk starting to creep on his face.

"It does, it looks like with that Pteramon," Ken said, understanding what Ryo was getting at, "Wormmon, that bug is to strong you have to get out of the line of fire!" 

Both disappointed that he wasn't allowed to help V-dramon anymore, but relieved at the same time, Wormmon hopped away from the battlefield and back to Ken and Ryo.

"Great, now there is only one target left," V-dramon said dryly, "namely me."

"Wormmon, I'm so glad you're safe," Ken said to his digimon while bending down to hug him. When his head was close to Wormmon's, Ken whispered some instructions to him, but no one else could hear them, Ryo made sure of that. 

"You have to keep fighting V-dramon, you can win!" Ryo shouted. 

"The dragon is the only one fighting that fire bug, "Tsukaimon commented at seeing the fight while hiding behind a nearby dome. They had only just arrived at this side of the town and decided to check out the fight first before rushing in. 

"It doesn't look like he's winning," Thundermon declared. 

Indeed it didn't seem like V-dramon had the advantage. Shadramon made good use of his aerial capabilities and easily dodged any attack the dragon threw at him. Since the fire bug was airborne the only attack V-dramon could use was his V-breath Arrow, but the attack was to slow. 

"Grrr, stand still and fight me like a real mon," V-dramon growled at the bug. 

The fight wasn't going well, while V-dramon couldn't hit his opponent, the same couldn't be said the other way around. V-dramon was already covered with scorch-marks from Shadramon's fire and more burns were on the way. 

Suddenly from an unexpected corner another attack shot out, a string of webbing from the small child's digimon. It almost caught Shadramon but the bug managed to evade the attack. 

"Nice move, "they could hear Shadramon boasting, "but I saw that one coming a mile away. There is no way you're gonna surprise me like that." 

"We'll see about that," Turuiemon muttered, already a sneaky plan formed in his head after seeing Wormmon's move.

_Okay, new plan, Ryo thought as their idea to use the same tactics as in the fight with Pteramon didn't seem to work here._

"V-dramon, try to keep fighting, we'll think of something," Ryo said to the struggling dragon. 

"I'm trying Ryo, but this bug is just to fast for me!" V-dramon said, seething in anger. In fact it was this anger that kept him going, letting him stay in his adult form. If he let go of his rage just a little he knew he would instantly devolve to his child form of V-mon. _If I can't win this fight as V-dramon, I certainly won't have a chance as V-mon, he thought._

"Silk Thread, "Wormmon said, using his string attack in the hopes of catching Shadramon with his second attack. This attack being slightly faster than his Sticky Net since it was only a single thread and not a whole web. Still the attack wasn't fast enough to trap the evading dragon bug.

"Ryo, what are we going to do?" Ken asked, looking up at the older boy.

"I don't know, but right now I'm open to suggestions." Ryo said, his eyes never leaving V-dramon. 

_We need to slow it down somehow, thought Ken, __but how? Remembering the battle against Pteramon and the darkness escaping from its deleted remains, Ken recalled Ryo saying that the digimon this happened to worked for a mysterious 'master'. However no one had any idea who this master could be and what he wanted. All that Ryo knew was that this shadowy master had it in for them. If that was so, then maybe this digimon's attack wasn't random and it actually worked for this mystery person. Maybe he could use this information to his advantage, Ken reasoned. _

Suddenly, as he looked at a point somewhere behind Shadramon, Ken got a look of terrible fear on his young face.

"Oh, no! It's the Master!" Ken exclaimed pointing his finger at the spot behind the bug while gasping for air. 

"What? Where?" Shadramon said, looking over his shoulder to the place the boy was pointing at. Doing so he saw…nothing! Ken smirked at seeing his pathetically simple plan actually work. _Wait a minute, Shadramon thought shocked as he realized he had stopped moving the moment the boy had mentioned the Master. The moment he realized this it was already too late, thick webbing from the worm had hit the back of his head and was now curled around his entire head, blocking his view. Only on instinct did he let himself fall out of the air and in doing so he only barely evaded the V-breath Arrow aimed for him._

Ripping the webs of his head, he looked over at the whelp who had managed to trick him, his face contorted with rage. 

"You'll pay for this humiliation, boy!" It snarled and prepared to strike the boy down for good. Hovering towards the boy while evading the attacks of the worm and dragon it's eyes started glowing blood red. Ryo moved in front of Ken to shield him from an incoming attack the best he could.

"Any last words?" Shadramon screeched at them.

"How about, look behind you." Ryo said with bravado, even managing a small smirk. _The boy's got courage, I'll give him that, but there is no way they'll catch me with the same trick twice, the bug thought. _

_Maybe you should have listened to him, a cold voice said to him in his mind. _

Before he could question what the voice meant, something very painful collided with his back, paralyzing him. 

"Thunder Bomber," Shadramon could hear a voice say behind him. From the left most corner of his eye he could see that a Thundermon, its body fully charged with electricity, had managed to sneak up on him. Even worse, the electricity temporarily seemed to have paralyzed him and from somewhere behind him he could hear two very disturbing words, the last he would ever hear.

"V-breath Arrow."

The arrow went straight and true, burying itself in Shadramon's back and with a horrible scream the digimon fell apart into data-fragments. Out of those pieces of left over data, which were already dissipating into thin air, a blast of pure darkness originated shooting of towards the western horizon. 

"Another one, "Ryo said, then remembering Ken's ploy added, "Good call on that one Ken, that was very clever." 

"Aw, thanks Ryo," Ken said, blushing slightly. 

Hovering to the ground, Thundermon stood a few feet away from Ryo and Ken, looking at them. Leaving their hiding place the other two quickly joined him for a stand off. 

"Our plan worked perfectly," Turuiemon said, looking around him seeing that this sector of the town had been damaged even more than it had been before during the battle.

"I hope you don't still want to fight?" Ryo asked the Terrible Trio as they stood a foot away from them.

Tsukaimon and Thundermon looked over at their leader, Turuiemon, as he took a step forward. 

"No, we're not going to do that. We've decided to give up our evil ways," the purple rabbit said, glancing over at Ken to acknowledge that he had been right earlier. 

"We are?" Thundermon asked, sounding relieved.

"We are," Turuiemon confirmed. 

"Great," V-dramon said,"Because I've just about had it."

Saying that he immediately devolved back to V-mon and slumped down on the blasted ground. Ryo was amazed, the nuisance that had plagued them since they had set of from Gennai's house was giving up. And not only that, they were also going to completely chance their way of life, turning from evil to good. _The work they did in this town must have really changed them, Ryo thought, but remembering that they had still wanted to fight when the four of them had returned he knew that it wasn't the whole story. Ken's words must have really made an impact, he thought, making them question their own honor must have really done it for them. Ken is really an amazing kid, he proved that here with this fight as well. Smiling he looked over at the young boy and his Wormmon. __He's really done some good here, Ryo thought, when suddenly a golden light basked their present location in radiance. Recognizing it from the dungeons under Toy Town, Ryo looked at the second piece of the Golden Digimental hanging right in front of him. Taking it in his hands he brought the digivice from his belt to the shard, absorbing it. At a pinging sound from his D-terminal, Ryo took that device in his hands as well, opening the hatch of the screen. On the display was again the egg-outline, but now it was filled even more. _

"Yes! Another piece!" Ken said enthusiastically. 

"Great," V-mon said tiredly, not really caring about that now since he had used up almost all his energy during the fight and he was still slightly injured, though most wounds had vanished when he devolved. 

"Take some rest and find the mayor," Turuiemon said to his former opponents, when he realized just how tired V-mon was, "we'll round up all the gazimon and take them to the mayor's building. Then we'll decide what to do with them." 

"Good plan," Ryo said, picking up his partner, V-mon, "if Wormmon still has some energy left, then perhaps he can help by rapping them up." 

"You up for that Wormmon?" Ken asked. 

"Sure Ken, let's do it." 

And with that Ryo left with V-mon to find the mayor and inform him of what happened, while Ken and the former Terrible Trio located all the incapacitated Gazimon. While he wasn't strong enough to do any of the carrying, his webbing proved very useful to keep them all together for the others to drag them away.

Author's Notes:

Well, early January became mid/late January. It was supposed to be done earlier, but after experiencing some computer problems it got delayed a bit. 

As always, please leave a review.

Till Next Time!

Preview of the next chapter:

Ryo and Ken have located the third piece of the Golden Digimental, but actually getting it proves very difficult. 


	9. A tough bargain

Disclaimer: I still don't own digimon, sigh.

Chapter 8: A tough bargain

Ryo's log: August 2000, Digiworld, somewhere on the Server Continent on route to Machine City. 

After winning the fight against Shadramon, who was yet another servant of the mysterious master we've been encountering, peace returned to Chida Village. Or so we had hoped, because we were still left with a group of disgruntled Gazimon to take care of. Luckily the rage they were in subsided after the death of Shadramon and within a few hours they were back to normal, but they couldn't remember exactly what happened. The leader of the Gazimon was the only one who could remember what happened since he had fought the influence of Shadramon the entire time.

After we explained that we weren't to blame for their comrade's death in Toy Town and that their master was really a Phantomon, they decided not to try and kill us. They were still guilty of having a hand in the capture of Monzaemon, but there was nothing we could do about it, we simple hadn't the time or resources necessary to punish them. So we had no choice but to let them go. Tsukaimon, of the Terrible Trio, followed them for a while to make sure they'd really leave the area and not make trouble for the village as soon as we had left. 

Turuiemon, forsaking his evil ways and desire for vengeance (Ken I don't know how you managed that) assured us that they'd stay a while to protect the village. They even changed their name to Terrific Trio, who'd have guessed.

Having done what we could we travelled west for about a week. Nothing spectacular happened, except for a few attacks by digimon who also had this black beam shoot out of them when we beat them. I tried to get us to move on as quickly as we could but every time someone needed help Ken would have us help out, the kid is very pushy to say the least.

Our exploits weren't much, we'd drive of some trouble makers, find a lost digimon, that sort of thing. The days of travelling seemed to just go by and with every passing day I'd worry more and more about Mugen Dramon and Chimeramon. After leaving Chida Village we also haven't found any more pieces of the Golden Digimental, till one day we picked up a strange locater signal on the digivice.

End Log

"What do you think it is Ryo?" Ken asked, looking at the display of Ryo's digivice. Close to the edge a yellow dot was displayed, but when Ken looked at his own digivice he saw nothing, only the red dots signifying their own location.

"The digivice has the capability to track other digivices," Ryo explained," but the color for another digivice is red, this one is yellow. And your digivice says nothing so it can't be another digivice."

"The color, yellow, do you think it might be…"

"Another piece of the Golden Digimental?" Ryo finished when Ken had trailed of, "I believe it might just be that. My digivice is the only one equipped for armor evolution so that would explain why yours signals nothing, it's not of use to you anyway."

"Enough talk," V-mon interrupted them," the only way to know for sure is to check it out. It's on our route anyway, well, sort off. There's no harm in checking it out."

"But what if it's a trap," Wormmon voiced his concern. His mind flashed back to two days ago when they were walking at the edge of a small forest when suddenly they had heard a sharp cry for help coming from within the outcropping of trees. Ken had immediately rushed in to help, he always did, and they had no other choice then to follow the boy in. It had turned out that the call for help had come from a Dokugumon who had made its lair there and was quite hungry. V-dramon had taken care of the situation and the spider digimon wouldn't feel hunger for a long, long time, but it had still been a trap. They could have been seriously hurt, Ken could have been hurt.

"It wouldn't be the first time," the worm added.

"We'll just fight our way out of it then. That wouldn't be the first time either," V-mon said, smirking at the thought of his many victories. He wasn't a victory dragon for nothing you know.

"Wormmon's right," Ryo said," we don't know what we'll find so we have to be careful. But we have to investigate. If it's really another piece of the Digimental then we must have it, we must have its power in the battles ahead of us."

"Then let's go!" Ken said enthusiastically, his curiosity getting the better of him.

Tracking the signal on the digivice they quickly reached the outskirts of a large city. Where Toy Town had resembled a collection of dollhouses and Chida Village which had consisted of dome shaped buildings, this city was a lot larger then any previous settlement they had seen. A true city, looking much like those seen in medieval fantasy settings, the streets filled with all kinds of digimon. Though they drew some attention, the digimon quickly went back to their own business, leaving them alone. Unfortunately one digimon kept a close eye on them from the shadows.

"Luckily we have a signal to follow," Ryo said, looking about him," otherwise it would be like finding a needle in a haystack, a very large haystack."

"It's just too bad my digivice can't pick up the signal," Ken said dejectedly looking at the device in his hand. Suddenly there was a gust of wind, made by a digimon that flew right by him at great speed. One moment the digivice was in Ken's hand, the next it was gone, snatched by the digimon. 

"Ah!" Ken exclaimed," my digivice is gone!" 

"Over there!" V-mon said, pointing at the back of a rapidly disappearing bat-shape, "come on, we can still catch it!"

What a strange twist of fate, Pico Devimon mused; it had seemed like another slow day of pick pocketing the locals when those strangers had appeared. At first they had just seemed poor wanderers, though two of them were obviously not digimon. 

Then, the little one had produced a little device and all became clear to him. The two other beings were humans, and even more than that, Chosen Children. The device, a digivice he recalled, would make a mighty profit, if he could sell it that is. And he knew of just the right digimon who would take the little device of his hand if he could procure it. _Devitamamon is going to love this, he thought, _though he's a bastard his money is good._ _

So he took the device first chance he got, planning to make a quick getaway and then some money. Unfortunately those damned Chosen didn't seem to agree with his simple, though profitable, plan. Even as he thought this they were already running after him, and worse yet, gaining on him. He knew that if he flew higher they wouldn't be able to catch him, but if he did that he would be in plain sight for a while. And that wouldn't do, he had stolen from to many locals who would gladly show him their appreciation of that fact, so he had to stay low. Luckily for him there was another alley close by, if he could reach that he knew for sure he could lose them in the backstreets of the city. _Heh, it's a veritable maze in there_, he thought smugly.

"Stop thief!" He heard the taller human shout behind him. _But I have to get there first_, he thought a bit panicky. 

Only a few meters separated them from the bat digimon and they were still gaining on it. 

"Stop thief!" He shouted to the bat, seeing it cringe as it realized they were close behind it.

The populace just looked on, doing nothing to either help them of hinder them, which angered Ryo. He had always done what he could to help anyone in need. Granted, more then once it had been Ken's nagging to make him deter from his path to help the needy, but what he was doing was for the greater good. If he failed in his mission then every digimon would be doomed, but these people had no such excuse. 

Ahead of them an alley between two dishevelled buildings loomed up and the bat quickly flew into it. 

_Great_, Ryo thought, _and I bet that the alleys of this town are just like those in the fantasy novels I used to read, full of danger and filth_. 

Running into the alley himself a few seconds after the bat with V-mon at his side he saw if flying around another corner. 

"Quickly, we are going to lose it!" Ryo said to V-mon, scrapping against some trashcans, making them fall over loudly onto the cobble stones. 

"I know!" V-mon replied.

"Do you think they will get my digivice back, Wormmon?" Ken asked worriedly, staring at the alley the thief and Ryo had run into. Immediately after they had started to pursue the thief, a Pico Devimon according to Wormmon, it became painfully clear that he couldn't keep up with them. So after an order by Ryo to just stay where they are so at least Ryo could be able to find him again after separating, he and Wormmon had stopped and were now sitting close together on the cobble stone road. 

"I know they will Ken, don't worry," Wormmon said, trying to sooth him Ken knew.

"But what if they don't?!" Ken said again. 

"They will Ken. Ryo and V-mon know what they are doing."

"But it's all my fault," Ken said sadly," I should have been more careful and I can't even help them get it back because I'm too weak."

"You're not weak Ken, you're just young. You're legs aren't as long as Ryo's so of course he will outdistance you. When you're as big as he is I'm sure you'll be even faster!" 

"But V-mon's legs are short to and he's able to keep up with Ryo," Ken whined in his self-pity.

"Yes, but V-mon's a digimon, so his extra strength is only natural. You know that Ken, so please stop blaming yourself for this. You will get your digivice back and you'll just be more careful next time."

"You're right Wormmon," Ken said," everything will be alright."

Though deep inside Ken wasn't so sure, but he didn't want to burden his friend with it.

"Made it," Pico Devimon whispered to himself. After quite a chase through the small alleyways of the Maze, as that part of the city was aptly called, he had finally lost them. After making a few more rounds around the alleyways to confuse his trail he had perched himself inside an abandoned building deep inside the Maze.

"Now, what to do with you?" Pico Devimon said to the digivice in his hand, "shall I sell you right away or try and have some fun with you first? Maybe this thing can help me evolve myself to adult level, or even higher!"

In his enthusiasm to try out his new found toy Pico Devimon didn't notice the large form approaching him from behind till it put its large claw on his small head.

"EEEEEEEEEEEKKKKK!" Pico Devimon screeched till another claw place itself over his mouth, silencing him.

"We lost him," V-mon snarled in anger. They had been so close but the many twists and turns of these retched alleys had made it possible for the Pico Devimon to escape. 

"Looks that way," Ryo said calmly, drawing V-mon's attention.

"What are you smiling about?" V-mon asked, finding Ryo's behaviour very suspicious. 

"You'll see, come on." Ryo said, leading V-mon through the alleys to where he knew that they'd find the digivice and Pico Devimon.

After a few minutes of walking they stopped at an abandoned building. Only the walls and floors seemed to be intact, the woodworks where either broken or on the verge of breaking. 

"We have to go inside, but be quiet. We don't want to alert our little flying friend," Ryo said.

"But how do you know he's here?" V-mon asked.

In answer, Ryo only waved his digivice in front of V-mon's face. 

"Oh!" V-mon exclaimed, understanding what Ryo had done and then followed the boy inside.

"You'd better shut up," V-dramon hissed in Pico Devimon's ear. After entering the building they had quickly found Pico Devimon. Evolving to his large dragon form seemed the best bet to prevent the little devil to make another escape. Scared, the Pico Devimon stopped screaming and V-dramon let his claw away from the trembling digimon's face.

"H-how did you find me?" Pico Devimon asked Ryo, when the boy stepped out of the shadows and took the digivice away from him.

"Simple, these things have a tracking-mode. As long as you carried it with you we'd always be able to find you." Ryo explained, staring at the scared digimon coldly.

"Now," V-dramon said with a terrible grin on his face," what shall we do with you! Maybe we should have some fun with you." 

Baring his teeth at the bat was enough to send it squirming in the dragon's solid grasp.

"No please! Don't eat me! Don't kill me!" Pico Devimon started begging for his life," I don't taste good and I'm certainly not worth the effort to kill, please!" 

"But you also weren't worth the effort of tracking you down and we did that as well!" V-dramon threatened.

"No, please let me live. I'd be forever in your debt, please don't kill me," Pico Devimon was sobbing now and Ryo took pity on him.

"Let him go V-dramon," Ryo said and the dragon complied. 

"Oh thank you merciful masters!" Pico Devimon grovelled.

"Save it," Ryo said brusquely, "we took mercy on you this time, but don't let it happen again for then we won't be this forgiving."

"Don't worry," Pico Devimon said with more confidence and barely disguised anger, "it won't happen again."

"Good, keep it that way," V-dramon said, then he and Ryo left Pico Devimon in his wrecked building.

All they had to do now was find their way back out of the Maze and give the digivice back to Ken. The first part proved harder then they had thought for they had no idea where they were and had no signal to lead them either. 

"Lost, and in such dismal surroundings too," Ryo said, looking about himself for any point of reference. So far he had found none, but they figured that if they just kept moving in a straight line they'd eventually leave this poor district behind. Hopefully their exit would be close to Ken's location.

"What took you guys so long?" Ken asked when after almost an hour Ryo and V-mon finally returned. 

"Went the wrong way," Ryo said," and ended up almost at the other side of town. This city's a really big place to get lost in."

"Especially in the poor districts," V-mon added," but at least we got what we set out to do."

"Really?! You got it back?" Ken called out enthusiastically.

"Was there ever any doubt?" Ryo asked, showing the recovered digivice to Ken.

"No, of course not!" Ken said taking back his digivice," I knew you'd be able to get it back."

The mansion was large, located at the centre of the city and was the most prominent building there. It looked kind of dull, al made of stone with no windows on the ground floor except for a smaller outcropping. The place looked like a prison or a fortress in Ryo's eyes and he wondered who lived there. Preferably he would have stayed away from it, not wanting to get into any kind of problem, but unfortunately he had no choice. The signal was coming from inside the building. 

"Excuse me," Ryo said politely to a passing digimon, a Deramon, "could you be so kind as to tell me what this building is and who lives there." 

Eyeing them cautiously, the penguin digimon with a bush on his back stopped at the boy's question. 

"You must be new to the city if you don't know who lives there." He said.

"We are new here actually," Ryo said," and we may have some business in that house."

"Well, I suggest you take your business elsewhere, this isn't a good place to stay for long. The owner of that house, Devitamamon, is a hard mon to do business with."

"How's that?" V-mon asked curiously.

"Because he owns this city," Deramon said then walked away, then muttered silently," and everyone in it."

"He owns this entire city?" Ken questioned in shock.

"Apparently he's not doing a very good job at running it," Ryo said thinking about the huge poor districts," come on let's go inside. We need that Digimental piece. Let's just hope this 'Devitamamon' isn't as bad as that woodpecker says he is."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that, Ryo," V-mon said, ignoring the bad pun. Ken thought it was kind of funny though and snickered. 

"Why is that V-mon?" Ken asked, stopping his mirth.

"When working for Gennai in the past, I've passed through this region on a couple of occasions, thought I've never actually been to this city. It's rumoured that Devitamamon, an Ultimate Digimon, has his base of operations here."

"Base of operations? What is this guy, some sort of evil force, a dark master? Does he too try to take over digiworld?" Ryo asked.

"Not exactly," V-mon said," He's a merchant and, apparently, a collector. His own wealth is all he cares about."

"As evidenced by the state of this city," Ryo voiced.

"Exactly," 

"Why don't they just leave? It can't be a nice place to live," Ken questioned.

"Some digimon feel safer living in a city then wandering the plains, even this city," V-mon explained, "but I've heard of a more sinister reason for why nobody leaves. Remember though, this is only a rumour, not a fact, though I do trust the source it came from."

"What is it then?" Wormmon asked, curious but also a bit afraid, _whatever it is, it won't happen to Ken. I won't let it._

"Debts," V-mon answered," apparently everyone has a debt to Devitamamon and can't leave until it is paid up. And the longer they stay here the higher the debt becomes, many will never be able to pay of their debts."

"So this guy's a greedy bastard," Ryo summed up," doesn't matter, we have to get that piece. Let's go inside this little shop of his." 

"What can I do you for?" A large egg digimon said to them as soon as they had entered the shop-section of the mansion. In front of them, standing between two cabinets filled with all kind of items, stood Devitamamon himself. Devitamamon, as his name implies, looked like a demonic egg. The shell was a dark grey, cracked in places, with large holes out of which parts of his body emerged. Two holes at the bottom revealed his red scaled legs, ending in clawed feet. Another hole at the lower back revealed a sleek lizard's tail, two higher placed holes gave way for two bat-like wings. At either side of the egg an arm emerged from the shell, long arms, not only ending in claws but having a blade-like protrusion on them as well. Finally, the largest hole, the one on the front, revealed the digimon's head. It was a head fit for a demon, a long elongated thing split in an obscenely large maw lined with razor sharp teeth. The part of his face that wasn't his mouth was filled with eyes, about two dozen of them. It was a sight worthy of nightmares and not at all reassuring. 

"Oh my god," Ken muttered, staring at the digimon with wide eyes.

"Not now Ken," Ryo whispered back quickly then took a step towards Devitamamon.

"Hello, my name is Akiyama Ryo and you must be Devitamamon, the proprietor of this establishment," Ryo said politely, _diplomacy don't fail me now. _

"I'm the proprietor of this entire city," Devitamamon replied brusquely," now what can I do for you? Need a place to stay? I have many available apartments and if you rent now you get the first day for free." 

"That's very generous of you," Ryo said, thinking that the rates this egg charged would more then make up for the free first day," but it's not what we came for." 

"Oh, a pity," Devitamamon said.

"Yeah, for your pockets," V-mon muttered sarcastically. 

"So what are you here for? I've got a lot of goods, best of the best. You're travellers I take it, so do you need supplies," Devitamamon asked, his large mouth made the speaking look very weird and bestial. The creature tried to make an air of hospitality and honesty, the perfect grounds for fair business, but the effect was ruined somewhat by its demonic appearance and the shifty and greedy look in its eyes.

"We are looking for a very specific item," Ryo said," it looks just like that." 

Pointing at a large cabinet of items somewhere in the back, Ryo showed a small smirk. They had finally found the third piece of the Golden Digimental, which could give them the power they needed to fight Mugen Dramon. Now all that had to be done was for Devitamamon to get and they could go on their way. 

Walking passed the many cabinets and displays, Devitamamon made his way to the back of the shop. When he came back he held the shard in his clawed hand, showing it to the four of them. 

"Is this the item you seek?" The shopkeeper asked. 

"It is," Ryo said. 

"Good, that will be 100 dollars, American dollars, not digidollars." Devitamamon said.

"What?!" Ryo exclaimed in shock, "We don't have that kind of money!"

"Then you won't get this item. No money, no purchase," the demonic egg said, holding the shard tight so they couldn't get to it.

"But we really need that thing, it's a matter of life or death!' Ken pleaded to Devitamamon. 

"Kid, if I got a nickel every time I heard that I would be at least twice as rich as I am now," Devitamamon said to Ken.

"But it's the truth!" Wormmon said, "don't you know who these two boys are!"

"Yes I do, they look like a couple of deadbeats to me," Devitamamon replied. Turning around the egg walked away to place the shard back in it's cabinet at the back of his shop. 

"They are the Chosen, and we are on a mission to save the entire world! We need that item." V-mon yelled to Devitamamon. 

Turning around slightly, the demon looked at them individually. 

"So it's that important is it?" Devitamamon questioned," well in that case I think we can make an exception." 

"Really? You are going to give it to us?" Ken asked excitedly, but Ryo wasn't so sure that was going to happen. He had noticed a certain glint in the digimon's eyes that he didn't like at all. _He's up to something, Ryo thought__, this guy doesn't look like the type to give anything away for free._

"No, not exactly," Devitamamon said, "but I'll allow you to work for it." 

"Work for it?" Ryo asked, finding this turn of events very suspicious, "exactly what kind of work are we talking about here? And how much do we have to work, we are kind of on a deadline here and don't have a lot of time." 

"Oh, don't worry. I will find the perfect jobs for you guys." Devitamamon said, coming closer to them again with the Golden Digimental piece," and if you don't do it you won't get this little trinket here." 

_He's got us_, Ryo realized, _we can't leave without that stupid little thing_. He also realized that Devitamamon knew full well that they couldn't refuse him now. 

"So what do you want us to do?" Ryo asked having resigned himself to their fate. One day of working and then they would at least have what they came for.

"Let me think," Devitamamon said, pointing one of his claws at Ryo, "you seem like a tough one, with that V-mon I assume is yours." 

Ryo nodded, confirming that V-mon was with him.

"For you, I have some assignments around town. Nothing dangerous, but you may need some muscle to finish it. Now as for the little boy with the worm, you don't look like a fighter so I will have to think of something else for you to do. I know, you can work for my brother in his restaurant. I have a portal to it in the back. After I notify him you will go there and work till it's evening and then you come back. By that time, your friend here will be done in town. So, do you agree?" 

"We agree," Ryo said. 

 "Will you be alright Ken?" Ryo asked when Devitamamon had left to inform his brother of a new employee. He didn't like it one bit that he had to leave Ken in the hands of digimon he didn't knew nor trusted, but unfortunately he really had no other choice.

"I'll be fine Ryo," Ken said, "we'll just have to work till the evening, how hard can it be?" 

"I don't know, but I want you to be careful. We don't know these people and I don't think we can trust any of them, especially Devitamamon. He's a shady one, but he has something we need." Ryo said, but stopped with what he had wanted to say when Devitamamon joined them again. 

"It's taken care of, Ken," Devitamamon," you will begin immediately. Go through into that room over there and take the door on your right. It will take you to my brother's restaurant. The restaurant itself is located far away but by going trough that door will bring you there instantly."

_Interesting_, Ryo thought, _so this guy has a portal system similar to the one in the warp cave. I wonder how he came to such technology. _

Looking down at V-mon, Ryo could see in his companions eyes that he to was wondering how Devitamamon came by this portal. 

"Okay, I'll go," Ken said to Devitamamon, then turned to his friends," see you later. Come on Wormmon." 

Not looking back Ken and Wormmon left the general shop area and went through the portal. 

"So what do you want us to do?" Ryo asked when Ken had left. 

"Like I said before, you will be doing some tasks around town. I give you a task, you carry it out and return to me. Then I'll give you another, understand?" 

"Yeah we get it, now what is the first task?" V-mon asked, getting a bit impatient. 

"Oh, for you two I'm sure it's going to be easy," Devitamamon said with a slight grin that wasn't lost on the two of them.

"You've got to be kidding me," V-mon said, obviously annoyed with how the situation had turned out, "We're delivery boys now?"

"So it would appear," Ryo said with equal annoyance. It was bad enough they had to waste a day working for a digimon that, as far as he was concerned, couldn't be trusted. But he was now separated from Ken, the boy he had sworn to himself to look after and protect. And here he was letting him go of to parts unknown all because of some greedy egg and there was nothing he could do about it! _Just be careful Ken_, he thought and not for the first time either. He doubted it would be the last time either, but for the moment he had other things to worry about besides Ken. The packages they had to deliver as their first task were first in his thoughts.

"So where do we have to take the next one?" V-mon asked while towing a cart filled with al kinds of boxes and packages.

"The next address should be around the corner," Ryo answered.  

He hoped that this time the delivery would go easy for once, the first two hadn't. Firstly they complained that the package was late, which was at no fault of Ryo and V-mon, but still they had to bear the brunt of it. Then those wretches were to lazy to carry the damned things inside themselves, wanting them to do it claiming it was part of the service they were supposed to display. Ryo didn't believe that for a moment, neither did V-mon. Devitamamon didn't seem the kind of digimon to offer any service, but they were told by the egg beforehand to be on their best behaviour. So they had to carry those things up to five flights of stair if their luck ran out, which it had done often enough. Finally, after having made the delivery the digimon would more often then not stall on payment. Already at the end of their rope, this was something they couldn't let slide. Oh, their 'customers' paid up in the end, after a good deal of threatening to not only destroy the delivered package but the new owner as well. A few appearances of a raging V-dramon could convince them to comply quite effectively. Ryo felt bad at having to resort to those measures, but with these people there seemed to be no other way.

Coming to another large brick building, Ryo checked the address one more time to make sure they got the right place. Seeing that it all checked out, he knocked the door with his fist loudly. While he waited for the door to open he took a moment to survey the building. It was a large house, not as large as Devitamamon's, but large nonetheless. The digimon who lived here obviously had some money or influence, or both, to be able to afford the demonic egg's delivery services. 

"What do you want?!" A burly digimon who opened the door said arrogantly and Ryo knew this delivery would be just like last time.

"I see by your return and the empty cart that you've succeeded in your first assignment," Devitamamon said upon their return to his manor. 

"Of course we have," V-mon snapped, still fuming over the things they had to go through to while delivering those packages.

"What is our next assignment," Ryo asked, keeping a tight reign over his own emotions. 

"The next one might take use of your friend's formidable anger and strength," Devitamamon said, ignoring V-mon's rude comments, "you see, those goods you've carried around with you had some value. If you'd have run away you could have made a nice profit, the fact that you didn't proves to me you can be trusted with money. At least for the time being." 

Taking a glance to the room with the portal leading to Ken, Ryo knew exactly what the egg was trying to tell him. Betray him and they would more then likely never see Ken again. Ryo scowled, he didn't like being threatened by anyone, especially not this conniving Ultimate.

"I understand," Ryo said, his voice hard and cold.

"Good," Devitamamon said, "then let's talk business. You have to go to a certain address, one of my apartment buildings, to collect the rent from one of my tenants. He's a bit behind with his payments and can be quite tricky to deal with."

 "So this is the place?" V-mon asked, still annoyed from their delivery debacles and Devitamamon's obvious threats. 

"Seems like it," Ryo answered," the address is correct so this must be the place."

They were standing in front of a large apartment building, though like the rest of the town it didn't look very modern. The building, complete with a flat roof, was made entirely out of bricks of very shoddy craftsmanship. The brick walls were interrupted by wooden boards covering the windows. Only a few of them were left open and Ryo could see the windows had no glass. A large wooden door stood open and gave view to a very dreary hallway.  

"Well, let's go find this debtor and get the rent he owes that rat of an egg so we can get out of here," V-mon said.

"Agreed. We should find our man in room 405." Ryo said and the two of them entered the building. Passing a lot of closed doors they found the stairs to the upper floors at the end of the hall. They wasted no further time and started to ascend the steep stairs. 

"If only my evolution could fly," V-mon huffed when they reached the second floor.

"And why is that?" Ryo questioned.

"Then we could have simply flown up to the right floor," V-mon answered.

"I don't think there's a lot of room here for flight, V-mon." Ryo said dryly, as the stairwell was barely even a meter wide. As Devitamamon had explained to them before they had set out for this dreary task, every one of his apartments was made for digimon of a certain size. This building was for human sized and smaller digimon.

"I didn't mean flying inside Ryo," V-mon said with a smirk.

"Oh I see, you'd just fly up to the right room and barge in a window right?" 

"That would be quite an entrance." 

"Yes it probably would," Ryo said, then the both of them fell silent as they ascended the rest of the stairs.

They soon found themselves in front of room 405 and for a moment they both just stared at the door. 

"Well, let's just do it," Ryo said, then knocked on the door. After only a few seconds of waiting the door opened, revealing a very humanoid digimon. He was about as tall as Ryo himself and wore white wizard's robes and a white cape with mystical signs on the inside. A white pointy hat covered most of his straw-like yellow hair. A piece of his cape covered the lower parts of his face. 

"Can I help you?" Sorcerymon asked calmly, eyeing the both of them," no, never mind that, I know exactly why you've come here. Please follow me in." 

"Uhm, thank you, "Ryo said, this was not going as he had expected. The sorcerer was politer then any of the other digimon they had the unfortunate pleasure of dealing with earlier. Following the wizard inside they got their first glimpse of the living conditions of Tama City's citizens, and it wasn't impressive. The room was small, barely liveable in fact and quite restrictive for the three of them. In one corner was something that could be called a kitchen if you used a lot of imagination, but Ryo just saw one sink. 

A straw mattress underneath the window was obviously used as a bed, but it didn't look very comfortable. In the middle of the room stood a shoddy wooden table and some chairs. Aside from that there was only a small closet and nothing else. The walls were bare stone, the floor creaky wood. Why anyone would want to live in such a place was beyond Ryo.

Gesturing for them to sit down, Ryo and V-mon followed the sorcerer's example and took a seat at the table. Feeling a bit awkward with the whole situation, Ryo and V-mon fidgeted a bit in their seats.  

"There's no need to feel worried," the magical digimon said," Like I said, I know why you are here and I hold no resentment against you. But where are my manners, my name is Sorcerymon."

"I'm Ryo and this is V-mon," Ryo said.

"How do you know why we're here?" V-mon asked.

"Simple, I'm a wizard. I've used a simple spell to ordain what your purpose was in this building. You can't be too careful these days." Sorcerymon explained, "also the only ones who come here collect the rent for that weasel Devitamamon."

"Yeah, you're right about that," Ryo said," we are here to collect your rent."

"And you'll get it, you won't have to fight for it. For that is why Devitamamon send you guys and not some of his regulars. You're expendable to him." Sorcerymon said.

"That's probably true," Ryo said, "but he has something we need." 

"And you don't have the money to buy it, right?" Sorcerymon asked.

"Yes, so now we have to do a few tasks for him today in exchange for the item." V-mon said.

"He won't give it to you," Sorcerymon said calmly, staring at them intently. 

"How do you know that?" Ryo asked.

"Does Devitamamon seem very trustworthy to you?" Sorcerymon asked instead. 

"Appearances can be deceiving, "Ryo said. 

"They can, but I'll take that as a yes. He won't give the item to you, you'll see. By the end of the day you will find that the only way to get it is to do more for him. And if you do that, he has you." 

"What do you mean, he has us?" V-mon asked, leaning a bit forward to Sorcerymon. 

"Let me explain something about most of the inhabitants of this city. They do not live here by choice, they live here because they can't leave. One way or another all of them need something from Devitamamon or are in his debt. You see, no one is allowed to stay in this city for more than a day without having some means to stay in this city, in other words," Sorcerymon said, holding his hands to both sides to signal the room," they need to have a room. And all rooms are owned by Devitamamon. He charges so much for these hovels that you can't help to become indebted to him. No room, no entrance to the city, the guards will take care of that."

"We didn't see any guards when we came in the city." Ryo said.

"They know better then to halt new arrivals, but they were there. You just didn't know they were there." 

"Why do you stay here then," V-mon asked," if you hate it so much why don't you leave?"

"Two reasons," Sorcerymon said," first there is my staff, my wizard staff. After a fight a few weeks back I found myself unconscious close to Tama city. When I came to I noticed my staff was missing. I tracked my link with it to this city, but couldn't find it. I suspect that Devitamamon has it in his possession, but I won't be able to prove it. I won't leave without it.

The second reason is the guards and the debt I've built here. I can't leave without paying the debt, something that I can never do if I stay here, you see my dilemma. Since most of my powers stem from the staff, I have no chance of fighting the guards and win. Though I appreciate it if you kept that knowledge to yourselves. The fear of my powers gives me some leverage in this city." 

"Don't worry, we won't say anything. But we do need to collect your rent." Ryo said.

"I understand," Sorcerymon said, taking a small bag from his cloak, "here it is, the rent I owe that money-grubbing rat."    

"Thank you, "Ryo said when he took the pouch from Sorcerymon. 

"Just remember what I said about Devitamamon," Sorcerymon said, letting them out of the room. 

"So, did you get the money?" Devitamamon asked the moment they entered his store. A greedy look was clearly evident in his many eyes and V-mon had to suppress a snarl. He didn't like having to do this monster's dirty work.

"Yes, we got the money," Ryo said brusquely, tossing the pouch to the egg. Catching it with his large claws, Devitamamon quickly opened it and scanned the contents. 

"Everything seems to be in order," Devitamamon said smugly," did he give you any trouble?" 

"Not at all," Ryo said, but he wasn't willing to go into any specifics.

"Doesn't matter," the demon said, after sensing he wouldn't get any information on how to deal with the wizard out of them, "as long as you got the money." 

"Which we did," V-mon said, "So what do we have to do now?" 

Putting the pouch of money away first, before answering the question Devitamamon went to a back room and put it away. When he came back he had a piece of paper with him, which he quickly handed over to Ryo.

"What's this," he asked before looking it over and frowned at what he saw. 

"Just a list of task you will complete next," Devitamamon said, "You don't need to come back after you've finished one of these, only after you've done all. And that should take you the rest of the day. What are you still doing here for?"

"We're going," V-mon said testily.

"This has got to be the most degrading, not to mention disgusting, thing we've done today," V-mon complained. After a long afternoon of completing menial tasks, they'd finally reached the bottom of the list. Not to mention the bottom of the city. 

"Oh I don't know V-mon," Ryo said dryly," I think job number six, cleaning the city's manure storage, was just as bad, if not worse. At least this place smells better."

"It's a sewer for crying out loud!" V-mon exclaimed. Their last assignment took them to the sewer watch, a group of digimon who stood so low on the social ladder that they were made to work beneath the city. Their job, given to them by a filthy garbamon, was to patrol the sewers to look for any who could cause trouble. The sewers under Tama City are quite extensive, leading under the entire city. Invaders could enter the city quite easily trough these wide tunnels Ryo realized. Most of the tunnels consisted of wide streams of dirty water with a stone walkway on either side.  

"I know, let's just do what we came here for then it will be all over," Ryo said. 

"Aside from Numemon, who would be stupid enough to go into these sewers? I'll admit it has potential if you want to get into this city unnoticed with those drains that exit somewhere outside of the city, but please! The smell is horrible!" V-mon said.

"I know," Ryo said, "but look on the bright side. We've been here for over half an hour and have seen nothing. Most likely we'll just be able to walk around, filling the time we have left and then go back to Devitamamon and Ken."

"Yeah, you've got a point. At least this is the last thing we have to do and at least there's no one here!"  
"There is no one here," a voice echoed from a side tunnel.  

"I said that," V-mon said testily. 

"Shhh," Ryo said and quickly crouched down behind a heap of trash, grabbing hold of V-mon he dragged the blue lizard with him as well. And not a moment to soon, for from out of the side passage a group of green digimon marched. They all had squatting forms, not much taller than V-mon. Looking at them from behind the trash Ryo saw they looked just like goblins. The goblins wore simple rag garments and all carried a wooden club. Most of them had red hair, except for one of them, that one had yellow hair. The yellow haired goblin's cloths were also different, instead of brown like the others he wore a blue leather variant with a black leather belt. His skin complexion was also a few shades darker then the others.   

"V-mon, who are they?" Ryo whispered to his companion. 

"The ones with the red hair are called Goblimon," V-mon whispered back, confirming Ryo's thought that they were indeed goblin-like creatures," the one with yellowish hair is a Shamamon. They're all child-digimon of the ogre-kind." 

"What are they doing here?" Ryo wondered.

"I have no idea, but let's follow them and find out," V-mon said eagerly. Following the goblins might lead to a fight and after the day he just had he could use the opportunity to vent some of his frustrations.

"Yes, let's follow them. That's what we are here for anyway." Ryo said.

For the next fifteen minutes they followed the Goblimon through the sewer tunnels without being seen by their quarry. After long treks through seldom used passages they noticed the walls had changed from the bricks of the sewers to the rough texture of natural stone. Following the Goblimon had made them leave the sewers into the tunnels the goblins had dug themselves. 

"We're getting close," Ryo said softly. 

"Then we should…" V-mon started saying when the noise of voices suddenly increased. Going forward in complete silence they found themselves at the beginnings of a large cavern, columns of rocks stood like pillars at the edges of the caverns. Their larger brethren stood scattered in the middle of the cave. The large room was filled with Goblimon and Shamamon, all talking to each other and at times even brawling. 

Afraid that other groups might follow from behind them, the two interlopers darted to the side and hid behind on of the stone pillars. Looking in on the gathering the saw that all the Goblin's faces were turned towards a platform in the centre of the cave.

On it stood another digimon, obviously a leader type. The digimon was at least two heads larger then Ryo, wild red hair sticking coming out of his scalp with sharp animal teeth sticking out from under them. He wore green robes with brown boots and gloves. A red cape hung of his shoulders.

What Ryo found the most striking part of this digimon was it's face, blue skinned with a large mouth filled with huge teeth which couldn't even fit inside of the mouth.

"I wonder what he's up to," Ryo whispered, not wanting to be discovered now. There were simply too much adversaries to take on by themselves, "and who is he anyway."

"I believe he's a Baromon," V-mon whispered back, then fell silent when the digimon began to speak.

"My fellow ogres of the Goblimon clans," Baromon said loudly, "our time has finally come! Today we shall attack the city above and take their goods for our own!"   
A loud cheer erupted from the throats of the gathered goblins, sending a shiver down Ryo's spine. He didn't care much for this city or its inhabitants, but he couldn't just let this happen. 

"We have to stop this somehow, V-mon." Ryo said.

"But how, I can't fight all these digimon and hope to win. Sure I could take out a lot as V-dramon but in the end I'd be overwhelmed."

"I know, we just have to make sure they don't attack you all at once," Ryo said, looking around the room, "let's try to get to those passages on the other side of the room. They appear to lead down, further into the Goblin stronghold. Maybe we can find something there to help us stop them."

"And maybe we can ambush small parties of them while they are feeling secure," V-mon added," but we have to be careful so they won't see us." 

"I know," Ryo said calmly, though that wasn't how he felt. This time the odds were really against them, they might even die here and not it's not even their true mission," let's go."

Staying close to the ground, dashing from pillar to pillar, rock to rock, the two started making their way over to the other side of the room. All the while the Baromon kept spewing his inflammatory talks of plunder and conquest. They planned to take the city in a few hours, at night when most digimon would be asleep. Tired by another day of hard slaving work in the service of Devitamamon only a few guardsmen would be about. It was, Ryo had to admit, the perfect moment to strike. Obviously this attack had been planned to the letter. Amazed at the levels of evil he encountered almost every day since coming to the digital world, Ryo wondered how much more he would have to face before he could go home. _Is this the Master's doing or does this Baromon operate on his own, like the Phantomon in Toy Town?_ Ryo wondered.  

Looking about whenever he could for any sign that they'd been seen the Chosen boy noticed they'd made incredible progress, more then he'd dared hope for when he first saw the gathered horde. A few more feet and they would be inside the corridors, away from the meeting cavern. The fear of being caught, of having to fight a losing battle, was strong. Stronger even, now that their goal came so close. But aside from fear, Ryo realized, there was anticipation, a certain eagerness to actually be caught and fight then and there. The excitement made his blood boil, living on the edge like this, but Ryo suppressed it. This was a time to keep a cool head, not rush into a fight they could never win. And besides, this wasn't even the fight that had to be fought, that one lay with Mugen Dramon and Chimeramon. 

"We made it," V-mon whispered as they ducked inside the corridor, glancing inside for more Goblimon while looking back to make sure no one saw them. They were in luck and proceeded further into the passageway, sneaking passed rooms with a few Goblimon in it. Attacking them now would decrease the total number of raiders, but might also alert who knows how many more goblins from further down on their necks. So, deciding that they'd first explore the cave more before attacking, they soon found themselves in front of a guarded door. Several Goblimon stood in front of it, but they weren't paying much attention. In fact, of the five guards there, only two seemed to be awake. 

"I wonder what's inside." Ryo muttered from behind a rocky outcropping in the wall.

"Only one way to find out," V-mon suggested.

"Go for it," Ryo said and V-mon dashed towards the guards. 

"V-Head butt, "V-mon said, knocking one of the guards down by crashing hard into it with his head. Before the other guard, who was still awake, could react V-mon punched him hard in the face.

"Boom Boom punch," V-mon said while executing his attack. 

The other guards were beginning to rise now, surprised at being attacked, but if given the chance to regain their composure they could be become a serious problem. Grabbing one of the fallen clubs Ryo proceeded by hitting one of the awakening guards on the head, knocking him out. Deciding to keep the club around for now as a weapon, he looked at the other guards but V-mon had already taken care of them. 

"Now to see what they are guarding," Ryo said while approaching the door. It was locked, but another head butt from V-mon took care of that. Glancing back, Ryo saw no other Goblimon who might have come to investigate what happened here. They had been fast and the guards didn't have enough time to give any warning. Still, there was no way of knowing when, or if, the guards' shift would end and replacements would arrive. 

"Let's hurry," Ryo said and opened the door. After getting used to the gloom inside the new room, they could see cages filling the entire cavernous room. Even more, the cages were all occupied by Goblimon, except for one which contained a Baromon.

"What? What is this?!" V-mon said.

"I have no idea," Ryo said, walking up to Baromon's cage, all eyes now resting upon them.

"Who are you?" Baromon asked, taking hold of the bars.

"My name is Ryo, Akiyama Ryo, and I can ask the same of you. What are you doing here?"

"I'm called Baromon, shaman lord of the Eastwood Clan and Spiritual Ruler of all the Clans. Well, former ruler anyway, I was imprisoned here by an impostor, another Baromon. He's taken my place among the clans doing who knows what." 

"He's planning on attacking the city above, "Ryo said.

"What do you think about that?" V-mon questioned.

"It's as I feared," Baromon sighed, "he's corrupted my ideals. It was my intention to stop these kinds of raids. He has to be stopped" 

"Really?" Ryo asked, surprised to hear talk of peace after what he'd heard in the large cavern.

"Yes, maybe you can help us with that." Baromon suggested.

"How?" V-mon voiced.

"If you free me and the others, who are loyal to me and the ideal of peace, then we can storm Baromon and take him, and his personal guard, out. With him out of the picture I can take back rule over the clans and stop the fighting." 

"Hmm, you really think that's going to work?" Ryo asked.

"It has to work, we don't have any other choice. If we don't stop them now the city will be attacked and everything will be too late." Baromon said. 

"Fine," Ryo said," we'll do it. V-mon set them free." 

"Right Ryo," V-mon said, gathering his energy. For some reason he didn't quite trust the situation, neither did Ryo, V-mon could see it in the boy's eyes. But they had no other choice. Evolving to adult state, V-dramon quickly broke open the locks. The cages, he could see, were quite ingeniously made. It could only be opened or destroyed from the outside, anyone inside was rendered completely powerless. _I wonder who made these things, V-mon thought, but had no time to ask or dwell on that subject. With the Goblimon, Shamamon and the leader Baromon freed they went back to the main cave where the meeting was held. _

"I don't like this Ryo," V-dramon whispered to his friend on his back as they were surrounded by the good Baromon's goblins, "even with all of these Goblimon on our side we're still outnumbered!" 

"I know," Ryo whispered back," just try to stay back as much as possible so that even if we lose we might still make a run for it."

"Got it Ryo," the large dragon said.

"Attack!" Baromon shouted and the horde, with V-dramon and Ryo alongside with them, charged into the large gathering. In the heat of battle carefully laid out plans often fell apart at the first moment, like their plan to stay at the back of the attack. V-dramon and Ryo soon found themselves at the frontline fighting to reach Baromon's platform. The element of surprise was on their side, allowing them to make quite a headway into the horde in front of them before they could react. With almost no casualty to there own forces they had already deleted dozens of the horde's forces before they started fighting back. With the Goblimon making a wedge for V-dramon and Baromon to walk through, the adults had only the opponents in front of them to worry about.

"We have to reach Baromon," Baromon shouted over the throng of voices to V-dramon and Ryo.

"Roger!" V-dramon shouted back, already punching at the Goblimon in front of him. Whenever a goblin tried attack V-dramon in the flanks Ryo quickly hit them with the club he had taken from the guards. 

A V-breath Arrow fired into the throng caused panic, making it easier for them to barge through. Ahead of them the evil Baromon, his red eyes now focused on the advancing trio, was shouting orders to his personal guard. _He looks really mad_, Ryo thought, _but if I were in his shoes I'd probably be as well._

All the while the fighting continued and Ryo lost track of time, there was only the rush of the moment. V-dramon would punch the front line of goblins, fire a V-breath Arrow and advance. Then Ryo would batter away at any who tried to attack their flanks. It wasn't going all that well though, for all his efforts V-dramon was starting to get hurt and so was he. He'd already sustained some cuts and bruises. Fortunately, and by luck alone not skill, he had managed to dodge any crippling blows. 

"V-dramon, this isn't working!" Ryo shouted.

"I know! But we can't stop now!" V-dramon shouted back. The horde was growing denser around them, but they only had a few more meters to go. 

"No, this isn't happening," Baromon seethed on his platform," I was so close to having full control of the united goblin clans!" 

The intruders were almost among them now, he just couldn't believe it was possible. _The strength of that dragon is enormous and what is that thing on his back? It's a human, must be that Akiyama Ryo_.

At the thought of the name of the boy riding the dragon a strange feeling started to overcome him. _Whatever happens, the boy must not be killed by the horde, see to it,_ a cold voice resonated in his mind. Baromon didn't have time to wonder about the voice or why this boy had to survive, before he realized it he had called for his own attack.

"Meteor Dance!"

Meteor Dance, one of Baromon's strongest attacks. The attack causes, like the name implies, multiple large flaming balls of fire to fall out of the sky like meteors. However this attack has a nasty downside when used indoors or underground. Realizing what he had done, Baromon looked up at the cave ceiling in fright waiting for the inevitable to happen.

"What's he doing?" Ryo wondered as the Baromon stared at the ceiling. He got his answer though when a large crashing sound rocked the cavern. Immediately everybody stopped fighting and looked up. 

"What the…" V-dramon muttered at the sight above him. Large glowing red cracks were appearing on the cave ceiling.

"This is very bad," Ryo managed to say. Above them the cracks were now glowing violently, small explosions rocketing the ceiling. Already chucks of the rocky ceiling were falling down on the goblin horde deleting them instantly on impact. Screams of fear erupted from the many throats of the Goblimon.

"V-dramon, we have to get out of here." Ryo shouted.

_That fool_! Baromon thought as he looked upon his impostor. He just couldn't believe anyone could be stupid enough to use Meteor Dance underground. Now the energy of the summoned meteors had emerged into solid rock, something that must never be done under any account. Energy emerging into solid matter created an anti-matter explosion! Now the cave would almost certainly collapse, burying all of them, granted they weren't deleted on impact with the debris. 

"Everybody, retreat!" He shouted over to everyone in hear shot. As he to started making his way to the exit tunnels he looked at his double one last time to see it standing there on the platform, a dead look in his eyes.  

_I failed_, the Baromon on the platform thought as he looked up the results of his attack. _You have, the voice in his head said gravely. _I'm so sorry_, he thought back at the voice, but it gave no sign of forgiveness. Feeling his energy distance itself from him and taking on a life of its own, he knew his own life was over. _

"No," he managed to mutter before collapsing into data, freeing the dark energy inside of him. Unnoticed in the chaos by everyone but Ryo who looked back at that exact moment, the beam of dark energy escaped through a side tunnel. 

_So it was him after all_, the boy thought, _the "master's" influence was here as well._

Chaos ensued in the collapsing cave as everybody scurried for the exits. The fight was now forgotten as former enemies tried to escape the disaster side by side. Amidst the hordes of Goblimon making progress was difficult at best, impossible at worst.

"V-breath Arrow!" V-dramon fired continuous beams into the horde in front of him, carving his way through the mass. Knowing they would never make it to the escape tunnels, Ryo ordered V-dramon to go to a large pillar, hoping that the ceiling would hold in such a place. As other smaller pillars then the one they were heading at collapsed he could only hope for the best. Others, like the Baromon they had freed, had come to the same conclusion and stood waiting at similarly large pillars. 

 "This is the end my friend," Ryo said dejectedly, now standing at the pillar, the dragon just sighed and shielded Ryo with his body. A large crashing sound signalled the descent of the remaining stone slabs. Closing his eyes Ryo waited for the inevitable crash which would end it all.

Author's Notes: 

Sorry to end it here, but this seemed to be the best place for it, with a cliff-hanger. Answers to what will happen to Ryo will come soon.

Translations: 

Pico Devimon = Demi Devimon

Sorcerymon= Sorcerimon

Goblimon = Goblimon/Goburimon

Baromon = Baronmon

Shamamon = Sharmamon

Garbamon = Garbagemon

Preview of the next chapter: 

Going through the portal to the restaurant, Ken starts his day of work to gain the third piece of the Golden Digimental. But how will working for Digitamamon work out for him and even more important, will there be a Ryo to return to? 


	10. To soft boil an Egg

Disclaimer: I still don't own digimon, sigh.

Chapter 9: To soft boil an Egg

Ryo's log: August 2000, Digiworld, Tama City, Server Continent. 

We arrived in Tama City today, a big city with a rotten core. Normally I wouldn't have hesitated to leave this place far behind me, but this was not a normal situation. One of the pieces of the much needed Golden Digimental was here and we had to get it. We found it in the hands of an Ultimate digimon, Devitamamon, who promised to let us have it if we did some tasks for him. V-mon and I were to work in the city itself while Ken and Wormmon went to a restaurant out of town. I don't worry too much about my assignments, but I do worry about Ken. With only Wormmon to protect him in an unknown situation I can only hope things will work out.

End log

"I guess we are here Wormmon," Ken said, closing the door behind him. It was amazing to him how going through a seemingly simple door could transport him instantly to another location. But that was what had happened, he was no longer in Tama City. _I wonder how far away I am_, he thought. 

"Yes, Ken. But where are we and where are the people?" Wormmon asked.

"I don't know, but let's look around," Ken said. 

They had emerged into a backroom of some sort, aside from the door they had come through there was only one other door visible to them and that one was in the wall opposite from them. 

The other two walls were bare, aside from metal cabinets placed against them. The shelves in the cabinets were filled with books and file-folders, obviously all business related. Seeing nothing more except the light on the ceiling they moved over to the other door, but it opened before they could even lay a hand on it.

"Ah, the new employees," the digimon in front of them said brusquely," follow me, you'll begin immediately." 

Following the digimon who, like Devitamamon, was egg-shaped they entered a small kitchen. Filled with modern equipment the kitchen looked very clean and professional. One other digimon was already working at a stove. Stopping in the kitchen Ken took a moment to look at the two digimon with whom he was obviously expected to be working with. The one who had taken him out of the first room looked vaguely like Devitamamon. The shell wasn't as dark as Devitamamon's nor did it contain as many holes. Two holes at the bottom revealed the creature's legs, green ogre-like legs. Nothing protruded out of the only other hole, the one at the front. In the darkness of the eggshell only two yellow eyes shown. If venturing a guess, Ken assumed that he was Devitamamon's brother and owner of the restaurant.

The other digimon, the one who was preparing some vegetables, looked like a vegetable himself or at least a nasty weed. He had no legs, instead he just hopped about, and no arms. For arms he had two tentacles coming out of the sides of his body, which coincidentally was also his head. On top he had a couple of Indian feather-like protrusions and a cooking hat.

"Hi, my name is Ken," Ken said, making a formal bow while introducing himself, "and this is my friend, Wormmon." 

"The name's Veggiemon," the cook said, not looking up from his tasks, "as you can see I'm the cook."  

"Good. Ken is it? I'm Digitamamon, but you can call me boss. I've heard you'll be working for me today, so I'll give you a small tour of the facility and then you'll start working in the kitchen till further notice," Digitamamon said in his gruff voice.

"Okay!" Ken said eagerly.

Going out of the kitchen they came out behind the bar, from there Ken had a good view on the restaurant. It was quite big, with booths at the windows. The booths had a table with two cushioned benches on either side, at the back of a bench the new booth began. Loose round tables with chairs were positioned in the remaining area. 

A few digimon were present, sitting in one booth while another digimon was taking their orders. The waiter looked like a miniature elephant, but instead of hind legs it had a cloud of smoke.

"Hi, I'm Ken," Ken said when the digimon came back to the bar and told the orders to Digitamamon. While Digitamamon took the orders back to the kitchen himself, the waiter took a moment to introduce himself to Ken.

"So, you're the new recruit," he said, "The name is Bakumon. I'm the waiter here, I take the orders from the customers and make sure the kitchen gets them." 

"I'm going to work in the kitchen," Ken said, eagerly awaiting the start of his assignment. He had never worked in a restaurant before and he was curious to how it would be. When Digitamamon returned from the kitchen he motioned for Ken and Wormmon to follow him. 

For the next couple of hours Ken and Wormmon worked alongside Veggiemon preparing meals and cleaning dishes. Since they were new their first assignment was washing dishes, though Wormmon had some difficulty with it since his appendages weren't build for this sort of task. Ken soon found a solution in which he did the washing and drying while Wormmon supplied him with more dishes. 

Being the innocent child that he is, Ken tried making conversation with Veggiemon whenever he could. And though Veggiemon wasn't inclined in speaking with the boy at first, Ken's unrelenting tenacity finally broke the digimon's silence and short replies. They started of with Ken telling about his life before he came to the Digiworld, about his parents and his brother, then he started to tell them about the things he'd seen and done while traveling with Ryo. Veggiemon, and even Digitamamon, was impressed with what the boy had gone through, though Digitamamon was loath to admit it. To be able to talk to Ken better, Veggiemon told the boy to stop with the dishes and help him prepare the food. Now standing at the opposite side of the kitchen, next to Veggiemon, Ken sliced every vegetable Wormmon gave him while continuing his tale. 

"Grrrr," a growling voice said," why are we here? We should be making ourselves ready for the plundering of the big city." 

"You be quiet," another voice said, "we have our orders. The child must not make it out of here alive."

"I don't care about that rotten child," the first voice said angrily, "We'll miss out on all the plundering!"

"Think, you fool! What kind of loot do you think we'll get in the pillaging of the city? Nothing! That's what!" The second said form the seclusion of the shrubbery they were hiding in.

"What you talking about?" The first one asked stupidly, conversation never was his strong point. As a matter of fact neither was thinking. He was a squad leader, which meant he led his boys into a fight. Not much thinking to do during a fight, just smashing in the heads of the enemies. He always let his superiors do the thinking. 

"There's too many of us to even get a good share of the booty. While here, after we've taken care of the child, we can raid the restaurant. Think of the food we can get! Think of the money the restaurant must contain!"   
"Oh!" The first one said, finally understanding what the shaman was talking about. Pillaging the restaurant sounded good, the boys would like it.

"Now this is what we are going to do," the shaman said, "we'll go into the restaurant, pretending we want something to eat. That way we can check it out. Then you and your men start attacking while I supervise the entire operation with my superior intellect. Do you get that?"

"Got it!"

"So where are you from?" Ken asked after a while.

"Me?" Veggiemon replied, "Why do want to know. I haven't let a very interesting life."

"Nevertheless, I like to get to know you better. How did you become a cook in this restaurant for example?" 

"Well, if you must know…" Veggiemon started, trailing of as he thought back on his life. 

"When I was a little Tanemon, a small plant-like digimon, I was always interested in going beyond our little village. But I wasn't allowed to and frankly I was too weak to be able to survive out of the village for long. It wasn't just because of the dangers that I didn't leave however, I couldn't care about that. No, I didn't leave because of the food."

"The food?" Ken asked.

"Yes, as a little digimon I was always fed the best food there was to get. All of us kids loved it, but for me it became more then that. If I left I wouldn't be able to have it anymore. Frantic to always have it at my disposal I hang around every kitchen I knew existed. It was there that I also picked up on how to make good food out of even the most basic of ingredients. Since I was always there the digimon thought I might just as well help out, and I did so eagerly." 

"Wow, then what happened? You didn't just end up at this restaurant if you stayed at your village." Ken said.

"That's right, I didn't stay in the village, I couldn't. It happened the day I evolved into my child state, that's when the problems started. Unlike any of the others I didn't evolve into a Floramon or other more standard plant-like digimon. I became Alraumon, a digimon known for its smell, its very strong and bad smell. The others rejected me for what I had become and I had no choice but to leave.

"That's awful!" Ken exclaimed.

"It was," Veggiemon confirmed with a sigh, "and I resented them for what they'd done for a long time. It wasn't that I missed the digimon, I missed the food. I knew how to prepare a meal and I didn't exactly starve in my banishment, but it wasn't as good as I had back home. So embittered and alone I traveled around Server, till after a while I evolved into my adult form. Maybe because of my anger I became a virus, maybe it was just meant to be, but after I evolved I felt different about my fate. The anger I felt, but always controlled, came out and I started attacking people who were happy." 

"That's not right," Ken said with a frown, "they did nothing to harm you." 

"I know that now," Veggiemon replied," but back then I didn't. Don't worry, I didn't do much, I was all alone you know. Anyway, one day I realized that all that chaos was doing nothing for me. Then the same day I realized that, I met another digimon while I was cooking something on a fire in a small pot. I was just planning to attack the interloper in my small camp when he commented on how good it smelled. No one had given me a complement in a long time, so I invited him over to my fire. Looking back on the encounter I know I could never have won it." 

"Why not? Who was the digimon?" Ken asked, then looked over to Digitamamon who had just entered the kitchen.

"It was me," Digitamamon said brusquely before getting back to business, "we've got an order for three vegetable salads and a Tama Special."

"Got it," Vegiemon said, taking the order paper and putting it with the others. 

"And Ken," Digitamamon said, "it's getting busy up front and you're keeping our cook up. Report to Bakumon, he will tell you what to do while waiting tables."

"Okay," Ken said," but can Veggiemon finish his story please?" 

"Well," Digitamamon said hesitantly, looking into Ken's hopeful eyes, "alright, but see to it, it doesn't take to long." 

"No sir," both Ken and Veggiemon said at the same time.

"Good," Digitamamon replied and went back to the register. 

"So what happened after you met Digitamamon? Did he ask you to join his restaurant?" Ken asked eagerly.

"Not exactly, he didn't have a restaurant back then, but was looking for a business venture. I became his right hand man and pretty soon we had a diner set up. At first both of us did the cooking, but later as we got bigger Digitamamon fully took on the leadership role and I became chef cook. We even got some more employees like you later…Uhm I mean…"

"Employees like me? Humans? Chosen?! You had Chosen working here in the restaurant?" Ken asked excitedly, wondering what the Chosen were like. 

"I'd rather not talk about it," Veggiemon said, remembering the humiliating defeat by WereGarurumon when they had made Jyou and Yamato work for them. Since then he had learned never to underestimate the Chosen or forced laborers in general. In fact, since that incident no one was made to work like that anymore. The only reason they had done so in the first place was because they were heavily understaffed. Now they had hired a separate waiter so the both of them could focus more on their own respective tasks.

"Please, I really want to know more about other chosen. How long did they work here and why? Chosen always have a mission, didn't they have their own?" Ken asked.

_And did they work here of their own free will_? Wormmon questioned in silence seeing Veggiemon's unease. 

"Well, it started with a kid named Jyou, yes I believe his name was Jyou," Veggiemon started," anyway he came here one day, but couldn't afford his meal." 

"So what happened?" Wormmon asked.

"He had to work of his debt of course, three days of working in the restaurant. But he kept messing up so he had to work here longer." 

"And longer and longer, right?" Wormmon questioned sarcastically, drawing looks from both Ken and Veggiemon.

"Right," Veggiemon admitted.

"So what then what?" Ken asked.

"A while later another Chosen showed up, a boy named Yamato. That's when the trouble started. For when he was here a few others showed up and then tried to get away. We fought and lost and that's that." 

"You tricked them into staying didn't you," Ken said softly. 

"Yes, we needed the extra manpower, though Jyou ruined more then he made," Veggiemon commented. 

"But if you needed more people why didn't you just hire them? People who work because they want to and get paid for it work better then those who are forced into it. Bakumon works here because he's paid for it right?" Ken said.

"Yes he does," Veggiemon said.

"And he works better then everyone who was forced to right?" 

"Well, yes…" Veggiemon admitted, seeing why they had so much trouble before. Getting those Chosen to work was harder than it looked, more stressful too. He was more of a guard then a waiter or cook back then. 

"Ken! Get over here!" Digitamamon bellowed from the register. 

"Coming!" Ken replied and with Wormmon he hurried over to the public area of the restaurant.

Veggiemon watched them go, thinking about the boy's words. He missed the kid already, though he was only a room away. It was so long ago that he had such an open discussion with anyone. 

"What can I get for you?" Ken asked when the new arrivals had sat down at one of the window booths. He had been working as a waiter for a few hours now and it was pretty fun, though he didn't have as many opportunities for conversation as he had in the kitchen. Still, he tried to make the best of it trying to talk to the guests and when free with Digitamamon. Digitamamon brushed him of every time however, stating that he was still to busy.

The restaurant had emptied out a bit somewhere in the mid-afternoon and the remaining customers had all been served. To Ken this was the perfect opportunity to make another attempt to coerce Digitamamon into a conversation. 

"How long do you think it's going to stay this quiet?" Ken asked, thinking that a work related topic might be easier to engage.

"Don't know, maybe long maybe short." Digitamamon said shortly, focusing his attention on the cash register and a book of the restaurant's finances. 

"So what are you doing?" 

"Finances."

"What do you do for fun around here?" Ken asked.

"I already told you, finances." Digitamamon answered.

Ken waited a moment, but nothing else followed. Seeing as that he would stand a better chance at conversation if he talked to a rock, he gave up and turned to Bakumon. The elephant-like digimon was waiting at the bar along with the rest of them for something to happen. 

"So, what do you do for fun?"  Ken asked the bored Bakumon.

"Nothing much," Bakumon answered, "after I get off from work I usually try to find some dreams to eat."

"Dreams to eat?" Ken questioned.

"Yeah I eat dreams and nightmares, it's tasty and always an experience." Bakumon said.

Before Ken got the opportunity to learn more of this, the restaurant doors opened and a new group of digimon entered. 

"These are for you Ken." Bakumon said.

"Okay, come on Wormmon, "Ken said and approached the group.

"We'll have some meat and Tama Specials," Shamamon said to the kid who was taking their orders. He wondered if perhaps this was the one they'd been ordered to kill. When he saw the Wormmon following the boy all doubts left his mind, this was the one. He still remembered clearly when he got his orders.

_"Shamamon," Baromon said," I have an assignment for you." _

_"I live to obey sir," Shamamon groveled, if it was up to him he'd be the one in charge and not Baromon. Certainly not 'this' Baromon, since he was aware of the coupe and their old leader's current whereabouts.  _

_"Take a group of Goblimon and kill a boy with a Wormmon in Digitamamon's restaurant." Baromon said._

_"But the restaurant is miles away from here, we'll never reach it today." Shamamon objected._

_"On the contrary," Baromon said smugly, "you'll be there in an instant. We managed to hack Devitamamon's connection to his brother's restaurant. We'll bring you instantly to somewhere close to the place. Now get yourself a team and go." _

_We? Shamamon thought as his eyes wandered the shadowy darkness of Baromon's chamber. Vaguely he thought he could see a form in the darkness, watching him and Baromon. _

_"Yes sir," Shamamon said and left the room._

And now the moment supreme was almost upon them, they had found the boy and the restaurant seemed to be completely unguarded. This was going to be an easy assignment.

"What kind of meat would you like?" The boy questioned. 

"Doesn't matter as long as it tastes good," Shamamon snapped, angry that the insolent child had interrupted his thoughts of victory. 

"Right," the boy said and Shamamon thought he detected a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Shamamon was appalled, how dared that little human speak like that to him. He was still fuming over it when he noticed that the boy and his digimon were already halfway back to the bar and the door to the kitchen. He had to attack now, otherwise the boy might just escape through the kitchen door.

"Everyone," Shamamon started, "ATTACK!!!"

Hearing the words to attack, Ken dropped down on the ground immediately and then rolled behind a table. And not a moment to soon, as the fireballs from the Goblimon raged over his head. Looking up what was happening, he could see the goblins were advancing towards him and Digitamamon's register. Speaking of Digitamamon, the egg was positively fuming over what was happening in his restaurant.

"What is the meaning of this?!" He bellowed loudly to the Goblimon and their Shamamon leader.

"Kill them all! This restaurant is ours for the taking!" Shamamon cried out.

"Over my dead body!" Digitamamon said and moved away from the bar and towards the attacking horde, Bakumon and Veggiemon by his side. Meanwhile the other customers had all moved aside or even out of the restaurant, afraid to be caught in the attack. Ken however had no such route open to him. He and Wormmon were separated from Digitamamon and the others by the Goblimon, several of which were now approaching him. Noticing that there seemed to be much more now then the four that had accompanied Shamamon inside he ventured a look to the front door where other Goblimon were now entering the building. That was all the time to look he could get before the Goblimon were upon them. Backing off from the ogres on his hands and feet, Ken tried to increase the distance between them. But still they kept coming for him and there was no one who could help him, no one except…

"Sticky Net!" Wormmon said, firing one of his large webbings right into the lead Goblimon's face. Hopping forward the worm jumped up and rolled himself up. Spinning towards the Goblimon he had stunned with his web he shouted the name of his second attack.

"Random Roll!" Crashing into the Goblimon, Wormmon unrolled and while still in the air fired another web at a nearby ogre. Landing on the floor on his many legs, he heard the thumb of the Goblimon he had crashed into as he fell down unconscious. 

"Ken, get out of here!" Wormmon shouted, dodging one of the Goblimon's clubs. 

Needing no second warning the young boy dashed away from the fight. He wanted so much to help his friend but he knew he didn't stand a chance against such overwhelming forces. Then again, neither did Wormmon. It was then that he noticed Shamamon, standing all alone on a table shouting orders. 

"Poop throw," Veggiemon said when he threw pieces of sludge at the Goblimon storming the bar he was standing on. To his left Digitamamon was knocking away goblins with his hard shell like it was nothing. Though that didn't surprise him, Digitamamon was a Perfect after all and these were only children. A lot of children, but still only child level digimon. On the other hand, Veggiemon knew that he himself was considered to be one of the weaker adult digimon, so he had to be careful. As Digitamamon got further away from the bar, more and more were converging on his own position. 

"Virus Delete," Veggiemon heard from his right as a ball of darkness impacted with a Goblimon, deleting it on impact. Looking to his right, Veggiemon saw Bakumon, another child level digimon, using his own attacks against the raiding party. The concentrated energy of the nightmares Bakumon had absorbed is a very potent weapon. 

"We have to drive them back," Bakumon said, straining to throw another energy ball. 

"I know!" Veggiemon said, using his vines as whips to knock down a Goblimon that had managed to reach him. Then a thought struck him, where was Ken? He could see the small form of Wormmon trying to hold his own against five Goblimon. The combination of webbing a Goblimon then rolling away seemed to work for a while but the little worm was up against to many and some of the clubs hit home, knocking down the little critter. But where was Ken, that's what Veggiemon really wanted to know.

As soon as he saw Shamamon, who was obviously in command, standing alone he knew what he had to do. Keeping low to the ground, crawling from table to table, Ken quickly found his way to the booth next to Shamamon's. Looking over the top of the bench he saw Shamamon standing on top of the table fully intent on the battlefield. Ken risked a quick glance as well and what he saw did him good. There were still many Goblimon active, but they were being beaten by Veggiemon and Bakumon at the bar and by Digitamamon on the dining floor. He couldn't see Wormmon anymore and got worried. He could feel in his heart that his little friend was still alive, but that might not last long. Gathering all his resolve Ken quietly crawled over the bench bringing himself in the same booth as Shamamon. Getting on the table behind the dark green ogre Ken glared at its back. 

"The attack it going well," Shamamon said over the sound of fighting," now if I only knew where that boy is hiding."

"Right here!" Ken shouted then rammed Shamamon in his back, knocking the surprised shaman of the table. 

"And I'm not hiding!"

Shamamon looked up angrily at the boy now standing at his place on the table while Ken was looking down at him in contempt. 

"Now you die boy," Shamamon hissed and got back up on his feet. For his part Ken just stood his ground. Raising his club Shamamon made a swing at the boy. 

"Nightmare Syndrome!" Two voices shouted at the same time. Both Digitamamon's attack and Bakumon's hit Shamamon dead on. A look of pure fear appeared on the shaman's face, his attack at Ken stopping dead in its tracks. The power of the Nightmare Syndrome is that it puts the recipient of the attack in its worst nightmare, the result of two Nightmare Syndromes is unknown, but one would speculate that it brings forth an even worse nightmare then the worst nightmare of the target. What Shamamon saw would forever remain a mystery as right in front of Ken's eyes the digimon lost all color, becoming completely black and white. All eyes were now focused on Shamamon as his form slowly lost coherence. Small bits of data started to release themselves from Shamamon's body as his eyes, filled with fear, pleaded with Ken to end the torment. Slowly Ken nodded and brought back his fist. Bringing his fist forward Ken hit Shamamon in his face as hard as he could, which wasn't all that hard considering he's still a child, but it was enough. As Shamamon exploded into data fragments Ken didn't miss the momentary look of relief on the shaman's face before he died. 

"There! If anyone else wants to go through what that vile shaman went through, then step right up!" Digitamamon shouted over to the panicking attackers. Almost as one they fled, some went through the front door while others didn't even bother and simply smashed in the windows to get out. Within moments only the unconscious Goblimon were present in the restaurant and they would be unceremoniously thrown in the lake only moments later. 

"We won," Wormmon said, scuttling over at Ken. All of them gathered in the middle of the restaurant and surveyed the damage; windows were shattered, chairs and tables broken, it was a complete mess. 

"I guess," Ken said, still thinking about what had happened with Shamamon. It was his first kill, not one of Wormmon's but his own. 

"You did what you had to, Ken," Wormmon soothed, seemingly knowing what Ken was thinking about, "he was suffering and wanted it to end. You didn't kill him, he was already dying, you merely helped him to stop his torment." 

"Yeah, you're right Wormmon," Ken said, trying to lighten up. He told himself that he had helped Shamamon and that he'd be reborn again. 

"Why are things never easy with Chosen involved," Digitamamon sighed. 

"I don't know," Ken said. 

With all the damage Digitamamon had no other choice than to close the restaurant for the day. Ken helped with the cleaning up, which consisted of dumping the ruined chairs and tables at the back of the restaurant and removing the glass shards from the destroyed windows.

Time went by pretty quick and soon it was time for Ken to go back to Devitamamon. So it was that after a very interesting day the five of them were assembled in the small room leading to Devitamamon's mansion. 

"I'll miss you guys, it was very interesting working here," Ken said. 

"We'll miss you to Ken," Veggiemon said. He'd become friends with the boy when he was there and changed the way he thought about humans. It was very hard indeed not to like the innocent child. Saying goodbye to Veggiemon and Bakumon, Ken found himself alone in the room with Digitamamon. 

For a moment it was a face off, both Ken and Digitamamon just looked at each other. Wormmon's gaze shifted from Ken to Digitamamon and back again. 

"I have to go now," Ken said.

"I know," Digitamamon replied, then after a moment of hesitation, "you did well here, kid. Better then most. Take care of yourself." 

"I will," Ken said, then turned around and walked to the door that would take him back to Ryo. Grasping the handle, he opened the door and started to move inside.

"Ken," He head Digitamamon say behind him. When he had turned back around the egg digimon continued. 

"I know you came to work here because you want something from my brother," Digitamamon said hesitantly, still unsure if he should do this. In the end he decided that Ken deserved to know the truth, the boy was friendly, innocent, and he didn't deserve to fall into his brother's trap. "Whatever it is, he won't give it to you today. Remember this, he won't give it, not today and not ever." 

"But, he promised." Ken voiced.

"I'm sure he did, don't forget what I told you Ken," Digitamamon said, then turned around and left the room. Ken stood there thinking for a moment, doubt filled his mind and he didn't know what to do with it. 

"Ken?" He heard Wormmon say.

"I'm okay Wormmon," Ken said.

"He will give it to us Ken, and if not Ryo will take care of it," Wormmon said.

"Yeah, you're right. Let's go," Ken said, more cheerful this time as they went through the portal. Aside from the Goblimon attack the day was pretty good, the work went pretty well and he had made some friends. Still, he wondered how Ryo was doing, how his day had been.

A huge cloud of dust, caused by the collapsed ceiling, hung over the scene of devastation. If any had survived the tragedy was still uncertain, at least till the dust settled. From a small tunnel, untouched by the devastation that had occurred in the main chamber, a figure observed the slowly receding cloud. The collapse of the chamber, caused by Baromon's Meteor Dance attack, was unforeseen and might just have ruined a few very carefully orchestrated plans. There was now no other choice but to wait and see who had survived and who had perished. 

"At least that fool paid the price for his failure," the figure, cloaked in black, muttered to himself, "It proves yet again the allowances one has to make to use the powerful Digimental of Darkness. Though it brings an evolved digimon completely under my control, it plays havoc on their minds. Some retain their intellect, though most become rabbit beasts. An unfortunate side effect of the Dark Digimental, but that can't be helped now. Nor does it really matter, they've all served their purpose so far and aren't truly meant to do any thinking of their own."

Looking in on the main chamber most of the dust had settled on the debris that was now the ground, giving him a good view of what remained.

"Let's just hope this debacle hasn't ruined everything."

Out of the side tunnel, the main chamber lay quietly. Large jagged rocks lay scattered about everywhere, not a sign of the original floor remained. At a formerly large pillar, which only minutes before had reached the ceiling, but was now only a few meters tall, something moved. Slowly, pieces of rock were being moved aside from the inside out, revealing a large blue dragon. Flinging away the last of the rocks he stood up, revealing another figure that had been hiding underneath the dragon's body when the ceiling collapsed. 

"Well, I guess things could have been worse," Ryo said, overlooking what remained of the chamber. Looking at the ceiling he could see that they'd been extremely lucky. The cave still had a ceiling though it hung a lot higher then before. Obviously, whatever had caused the collapse had only made the lower part to get severed from the rest of the rocks. 

"W-we could have been dead," V-dramon said tiredly, having sustained a lot of damage in saving Ryo, "we would have been if we hadn't been at this pillar. Though it seems it obviously wasn't as lucky as we were." 

"Are you feeling alright V-dramon?" Ryo asked, concerned about his friend's welfare.

"Just dandy," the dragon replied.  

"Maybe you should devolve?" Ryo suggested.

"No, not yet. There might be more Goblimon around."

"Alright, then let's get out of here," Ryo said, "I've had enough of this mess."

Slowly they tried to find their way through the maze of jagged rock that was once the Goblimon's main gathering chamber. Not really knowing where they were going they hoped that the escape tunnels were still in one piece. After a few minutes of walking they heard voices somewhere in front of them. Not knowing if they were friend or foe, the two progressed slowly. 

"I wonder who they are." Ryo whispered. 

"Whoever it is, I can still beat them if I have to." V-dramon whispered back. Coming within earshot of the voices, they crawled over to a large rock. Looking over the top they saw a group of Goblimon and Baromon with his back in their direction. Ryo was about to go over to them when Baromon began to speak.

"The impostor is gone and so are those mettlesome strangers, though they were very helpful in getting me back in control. Now, even though we are weakened, we will still continue with the plan. Tonight we shall suck this decadent town dry!" 

Baromon's words were answered with a chorus of cheers and insults at the digimon above. Ryo was shocked, but that quickly changed to anger. They had been tricked by Baromon's lies for peace, as his real intentions were only to regain his seat of power for conquest. 

"That lousy…" Ryo started saying, when a roar interrupted him. Giving in to his anger, V-dramon had jumped over the rock and was now in mid-jump. Everything seemed to happen in slow-motion. Shocked the Goblimon looked up at the dragon and Baromon twisted around to look at the sound. Meanwhile V-dramon had already fired one of his V-Breath Arrows at the traitorous Baromon. With a look of fear in his eyes the ogre could do nothing but watch as the blast of energy crashed through his body, tearing him up and finally destroying him. With the particles of Baromon still in the air V-dramon landed in front of the Goblimon and roared. 

Still fazed by the earlier disaster and now the death of their lord, the Goblimon were routed and ran away in just about every direction. In their fright and flight they failed to notice the injuries V-dramon had sustained and the trouble he had maintaining his form. When they were all out of sight, the dragon slumped down and instantly devolved back into his child form, V-mon.

"Let's get out of here," Ryo said, picking up V-mon, "man, we have to put you on a diet." 

"Shut up Ryo," V-mon said.

Moving on, the two of them had no idea they were observed from the darkness the whole time it took them to find a tunnel to the surface. From under a dark hood, cold blue eyes watched them go. 

"Good, at least he has survived, though I could have gone without that annoying lizard." The figure said, then looked at an egg-shaped device on his right arm. 

"And I see the other child survived as well, now that is a pity." 

Pocketing the device, he turned around swiftly and ascended the tunnel towards the surface. There were still a lot of things he had to take care of before Ryo reached Machine City.

"Ryo! What happened to you?!" Ken asked enthusiastically when the two downtrodden warriors entered Devitamamon's shop. 

"You two don't look so good," Wormmon commented, perched in front of Ken's feet. The boy and the worm were standing in front of one of the larger cabinets of the room, close to the counter. Behind the counter stood Devitamamon himself, observing the entrance of the boy and the dragon. 

"I take it you've done all the assignments," Devitamamon asked before Ryo could even think of answering Ken's question.

"We have," Ryo said. 

"And you've taken care of the Goblimon buildup in the sewers?" Devitamamon questioned, an evil glint visible in his many eyes.

"You knew," Ryo said, narrowing his eyes in anger, though his voice remained calm, "you knew they were massing an invasion. It was no coincidence we were in the sewers at the right time. I assume you had a spy among the horde?"

"You assume correctly and may I be right in assuming he's most likely dead by now?" 

"You may," Ryo answered, his voice becoming tight with anger, but he put it away. It was incredible how little this digimon seemed to care about the welfare of others. 

"Good, very good," Devitamamon replied, "you've all done very well." 

"So we get the piece then?" Ken voiced hopefully, though his eyes betrayed a hidden worry. Devitamamon didn't see, but Ryo did.

_The kid knows_, he thought, _he realized what kind of digimon Devitamamon really is. I'm sorry Ken, I hoped to spare you from all of this deceit._

Ryo had learned, as he was doing all of Devitamamon's assignments, what kind of mon he was. He had his suspicions before, but they know he knew them to be true. _He won't give it to you_, Sorcerymon had said and the wizard was right. Resigning himself to this fate, he waited for Devitamamon to say it himself.

"Well, no," Devitamamon said, shocking Ken to the core," you see, you've done a great job but the item you want is worth more then that. I assure you that it will be yours after just a few more assignments spread over just a few days. You will be staying in one of my apartments of course, you are aware of the housing rules of the city, right Ryo?" 

"I'm well aware," Ryo said, containing his anger," we'll be going now. We'll meet again later."

"Of course we are," Devitamamon said triumphantly.

Leaving the mansion Ryo picked up a fast pace towards the west end of the city.

"Ryo? What are we going to do now?" Ken asked timidly.

"What we have to," Ryo said brusquely, clearly showing his anger. They remained silent as Ryo quickly led them out of the city and into a neighboring forest. _That's one of the best points of the digital world_, Ryo thought sarcastically, _there's always a forest to hide in. _

He was angry and that wasn't good, he knew it. Devitamamon couldn't go against his character after all, the lousy omelet. But he had to suppress his anger, for Ken's sake. 

They quickly found a small clearing with a small lagoon not to far away. There Ryo decided they'd stop to think things over.

"So Ken, how has your day been? Not to horrible I hope?" Ryo asked.

"No it was great, well apart from that attack…" Ken said.

"Great! How could it have been great?! Have you any idea what WE had to go through today?" V-mon voiced loudly, "Hey wait a minute, what attack?"

"That's what I'd like to know," Ryo questioned, looking intently at Ken.

"Well, while I was working in Digitamamon's restaurant, he's Devitamamon's brother by the way and isn't as bad as that rotten egg. I've had a lot of fun working there and have met some new friends, Veggiemon, Bakumon and Digitamamon."

"That's great Ken, but what about the attack?"

"When I was working as a waiter a group of Goblimon came in." Ken started.

"Goblimon? Hmph, figures," V-mon muttered.

"They attacked but we managed to stop them." Wormmon replied.

"That's good, we've had our own dealings with the Goblimon," Ryo said.

"Yeah, in the sewers, I heard from Devitamamon. That's how you got so dirty right?" Ken said.

"Right," Ryo said a smile forming on his face as he considered his appearance. He looked over at where the lagoon was and figured he might as well take this chance. 

"You know I think I'm going to take a bath. V-mon, watch the camp for me okay? You can go second."

Ryo said and got up from where he was sitting. Walking away Ken called out to him.

"Ryo? What are we going to do now?" 

"I don't know yet, but I'm going to figure something out." Ryo said leaving the campsite. 

_This water is pretty soothing_, Ryo thought, as he relaxed in the lagoon's warm water. For a moment he just forgot about Devitamamon and the Golden Digimental Piece. For a moment he could just lose himself in the warm water of the lagoon, not a care in the world. He was pretty lucky actually, he mused, he had made new friends he would never have made if he hadn't come to the digital world. V-mon, the blue lizard who could become a mighty dragon, who was loyal and friendly. Together they had been through so much and would be facing even more. Then there was Ken and his digimon Wormmon, the two of them didn't seem much but they packed hidden strengths. He had to protect Ken from danger, not only the physical danger, but emotional as well. And then some greedy digimon comes along and separates them and the moment that happens Ken is attacked. The worst part is that it was all for nothing, they still didn't have the damned piece. 

Suddenly the water wasn't all that soothing anymore as his troubles came back to assault him. He had to get that piece, it was vital for their mission if they wanted to make it out alive. Slowly his resolve started to get stronger, he knew what to do but loathed to actually do it. _I have no choice, may the digital gods forgive me._

"V-mon, could you come over here for a moment?" He called out to the camp. 

Authors Notes: 

Not much to say about this chapter. I've tried to make Digitamamon's restaurant appear as much as I could to the one in the anime, hopefully I've been at least a bit successful. As for Digitamamon himself, his character is a bit of a mix between his 01 and 02 personality. He was a rotten egg in 01, but in 02 he wanted to have friends. Meeting Ken in this chapter has set him on the right path to becoming a kinder person. The same goes for the other characters though they got less screen time in the 02 anime (Veggiemon was completely gone).

Translations: 

Kido Jyou = Joe Kido ; Ishida Yamato = Matt Ishida. 

Please leave a review after reading, it really doesn't take all that much time and it lets me know people are reading my story. To all of you who've reviewed, thanks. You're reviews are much appreciated. 

Next chapter:

It has become clear that Devitamamon had never intended to give them Golden Digimental Piece. Now it is time for Ryo to do under the cover of night what he couldn't do during the day.


	11. For the greater good

Disclaimer: I do not own digimon, nor am I trying to make any money with this story. 

Chapter 10: For the greater good.

Ryo's log: August 2000, Digiworld, Tama City, Server Continent.

At the end of the day all of us returned from our respective jobs to Devitamamon. The jobs V-mon and I had to do were degrading and messy. The last one took us to the sewers where we discovered a plot to plunder the city by Baromon and his Goblimon. We freed another Baromon who convinced us he only wanted peace. With him and his loyal Goblimon we attacked the other one. Something went wrong when we came near him, resulting in the collapse of most of the cavern. Luckily we survived and most of the Goblimon were destroyed. Not all of them died however and we found them with the Baromon we helped. It turned out that he was just using us and also wanted to pillage the town above. Naturally we couldn't allow this and we took him out. 

Ken's day had been better, working in Digitamamon's restaurant and making friends there. They too were attacked by Goblimon but managed to beat them all. 

When we all came back to Devitamamon he said we did great, but that it was insufficient compared to the piece's value. He promised us we would get it after a few more jobs, but I don't believe him.  

End log

Slowly darkness started to descend on Tama City and the surrounding area, especially in the forest at the western side of town. Light had enough trouble making it through the foliage during the day, but during sunset and the night it had no chance at all. Already most of the forest was cloaked in darkness, only where the forest canopy was open could light still fall through. On one such path, where the light could still reach beyond the tree tops, a group of three people was on the move. A young boy, a blue lizard and a green caterpillar were travelling west, but their thoughts lay in the opposite direction.

"But V-mon, what about Ryo?" Ken asked, staring of into the falling darkness of the forest around them, "shouldn't we go and help him or at least wait for him?"

V-mon sighed, looking in the general direction of Tama City before looking back at Ken. 

"You heard what Ryo said Ken," V-mon started to explain again. He didn't like the situation anymore then the boy did but he knew what Ryo wanted and respected his wishes. 

"Ryo knows what he is doing Ken," Wormmon supplied, "he's going to talk to Devitamamon to try and get the piece, but he doesn't want us to get into anymore delays so we have to go ahead and he'll catch up when we make camp for the night later."

"That's right," V-mon said, "Ryo will be back shortly, but we have to make up for lost time. There's nothing to worry about." 

_If only you were going to talk to Devitamamon_, V-mon thought worriedly, _then maybe I could believe it myself. He didn't want to show it to Ken but he was worried about Ryo to. He knew that Ryo had no intention of speaking to the demonic egg ever again and that only made his return to Tama City worse. Looking at Ken, V-mon realized that the boy didn't really believe them. It was like he knew exactly what Ryo was really going to do. Sparing a glance at Wormmon, V-mon could see that the bug had reached the same conclusion he had. _

_That kid is way to smart.   _

To the east, on the border of the very same forest the others were currently traversing, the large settlement called Tama City lay. With the coming of the night shops had closed and people were returning home. Pretty soon the streets would be empty except for a possible guard patrol, which was exactly what he was counting on. But for now the sun hadn't completely set yet and the streets were still pretty crowded. 

At the edge of town a crouching figure was observing the town entrance for any sign of guards. So far all he had seen were a couple of rock-like digimon, similar to the Gotsumon he had seen in Chida Village but instead of rock they seemed to be made of ice. They were guarding the gates, which could be closed of by the large wooden doors but were open now. 

"They must be the guards then," Ryo muttered to himself, trying to find another way of entering the town. The last thing he wanted was to be seen entering the town now and possibly get into trouble with the city guard. The city had a few main entrances Ryo knew from his earlier jobs around the city, which like this one would all be guarded. So much for the simple plan of getting in and more importantly out of the city that way, Ryo thought. Most of the city was walled, with only eight openings where one could enter and leave the city. 

He considered what other ways into the city he knew off. Firstly there's the sewers, since the main drains exited somewhere out of the city and therefore left it vulnerable. But he didn't know where those drains are so that wouldn't work. The portal from Digitamamon's restaurant was a way in but the place was to far away to ever be considered an option. 

"That leaves me with only one option," Ryo muttered, a smirk forming on his face," I'll have to scale the wall somewhere."

But where, that was the question that plagued him now. The wall was about ten meters high and most of it was to smooth to be able to get a grip on. Well, except for maybe at one place. Part of the city consisted of slums, filled with alleys and condemned buildings. No steps were being undertaken to restore that part of the city, probably because Devitamamon was too cheap to ever consider using his money for something like that. Maybe the same could be said for the wall at the poor district of the city. It was worth a try to look into, if it meant getting in the city unnoticed. If that failed he would have to use his backup plan and sneak passed the city guards. 

Luckily for him he was already close to the outer walls of the slums otherwise he was in for a pretty long walk around the city. Only half an hour later he managed to reach the walls, night coming closer now. He had to hurry if he was to have enough light to find a suitable place to climb. Clearly, after walking along the wall a bit, there were not enough irregularities in the wall to use as stepping stones. 

_Damn_, he thought_, this is not going well. I don't want to have to go passed the guards. It's to late now, they'd never let me enter the town_. 

Just when he was about to give up and try getting passed the guards, he noticed a strange dark shape on the wall a few meters in front of him. Running the last part to the darkness which seemed to have crawled up the stone he felt his hope rising. Not really making out what it was in the gloom since the sun had set a few minutes ago, Ryo tentatively touched one of the snake-like things. 

It were vines, he realized then gazed up. He couldn't believe his luck and for a moment he couldn't help but smile. 

Laughing out loud for a moment, he gave a few experimental tugs on one of the strongest looking vines to see if it could carry his weight. Then remembering that stealth was in order here he stopped making noise, but still kept a triumphant grin on his face. 

At last night had fallen but the city wasn't dark yet, light from windows and streetlights illuminated parts of the street while cloaking others in shadow. Though this was true for most of the city, part of it didn't have streetlights or inhabited houses where light could seep out into the street through windows. This suited him just fine, the night and the darkness had always been his element. Flying through the back alleys, Pico Devimon prepared to go to his hideout and plan something for the night. Normally he would already be well under way for a burglary but the encounter with that boy Ryo and his pet dragon earlier had spooked him. So much so that it had haunted his mind the entire day! Around every corner he expected to see the two, ready to finish what they could have done before, namely his destruction. He tried telling himself that they were long gone, but somehow the fear remained. _This is stupid, they're gone, they won't find me again, he thought as he entered an empty building, his hideout._

"There you are, I knew I would find you here," a voice called out suddenly from the shadows, making Pico Devimon nearly faint. It was that boy again!

Stepping out of the shadows Ryo observed Pico Devimon, still standing in the building's entrance, a look of fear evident on the face of the thieving bat.

"Please don't kill me," the bat squeaked.

"Don't worry I'm not here to kill you, but to do business with you," Ryo said, crossing the distance between him and Pico Devimon. 

"Business?" Pico Devimon asked greedily, his curiosity now peeked. 

"Yes, I have need of your services. Or what I believe to be your services." Ryo stated.

"Let's talk about this inside," Pico Devimon voiced, the thought of business for him often meant a lot of profit, if he played his cards right.

The two now fully entered the building, Ryo following Pico Devimon to the second floor where they sat down on two couches, very old ones, facing each other with a table in between. Resting his arms on his knees, Ryo waited for Pico Devimon to ask him what he wanted and the little bat didn't disappoint. 

"So, what is this job you need me for?" 

"Someone has an item I need," Ryo started, "but, even after working for it and doing more then the actual worth of the item, he won't give it to me."

"Ah, a burglary then," Pico Devimon surmised, a glint of evil appearing in his eyes. 

"Yes, a burglary. I'm looking for a professional burglar, a digimon who knows what he is doing. Can you do that?"

"I can break into anything," Pico Devimon boasted. 

"Good, then we can get going." Ryo said, ready to get up.

"Not so fast, what's in it for me? Why should I help you?" Pico Devimon asked.

"I thought you'd bring that up," Ryo said calmly, as if the bat hadn't just refused him. "But does 'No, please let me live. I'd be forever in your debt, please don't kill me' ring a bell?" 

Pico Devimon gulped audibly at Ryo's words, remembering that he had indeed uttered them when he thought they were going to kill him. But surely the boy couldn't expect him to abide by his word?

"I know this probably means nothing to you now and threatening you into complying will just result in betrayal later," said Ryo, seeming reading the bat digimon's mind. 

"That's right," Pico Devimon said making no excuses of the contrary. And why should he, it was all true and the both of them knew it. 

"So, knowing all this, why did you come to me in the first place? Better yet, what did you want for me to steal? You had to work for it you say? But the only one you've worked for is…" Pico Devimon trailed of when he realized just what Ryo was intending to do. 

"Oh no! Not in a million years! Not even if I had ever intended to keep my word would I help you steal from Devitamamon. He would know I did it immediately."

"No he wouldn't, 'cause that's where I come in," Ryo said smugly.

"What do you mean?" Pico Devimon asked, eager to know what the boy was planning.

"The item we're going to steal only has value to me, so naturally Devitamamon's suspicions will fall on me, not on you. As I won't stay in the city after that and he knows I need the item and wouldn't leave without it, he will know I took it."

"Good for you, you get your item, but what's in it for me. I sell anything I steal to that egg, I can't sell his own items back to him." 

"But what if you steal something without monetary value? Items that would give you power?" Ryo asked.

"What are you talking about?"

"Devitamamon is a collector. In his collection there are items formerly in the possession of, say, the Dark Masters." Ryo explained, remembering some of the events about the Digital World that V-mon had told him about. He also hoped that like all of Pico Devimon's species this one got the natural thirst for power they are so prone for. 

"The Dark Masters?" Pico Devimon mused, "They were very powerful." 

"And what they left behind could give you more power, power enough to evolve even," Ryo coaxed. Seeing the greed in Pico Devimon's eyes flare up Ryo knew he had the little thief right where he wanted him.

Devitamamon's mansion looked dark from the outside, only a few lights were lit and could be seen through the windows. Ryo and Pico Devimon were observing the building from the shadows across the street. 

"Remind me again why I'm doing this?" Pico Devimon wondered out loud when they had reached Devitamamon's mansion. 

"Because you won't get blamed for this, because you want the power that mansion holds," Ryo said strongly. 

"Why do you think I can break into this particular house anyway?" Pico Devimon asked.

"Because I know what kind of digimon you are," Ryo said brusquely, "you're a professional thief, you most likely have plans to rob every building in town, including this one. You just never felt incentive enough to try because then you'd have to leave town. This way I get blamed and you can stay to continue your crime spree and being more powerful at the same time."

"True, true," Pico Devimon conceded.

"Then let's proceed," Ryo said.

"Wait, how do I know you won't turn me in to Devitamamon the moment I enter his house?" Pico Devimon asked, his natural distrust not fully satisfied yet.

"Why would I do that, Devitamamon already knows you're a thief and besides, you are his supplier. If he wanted to arrest you he could do it the next time you came by. And it wouldn't get me my item, the egg would never give it to me no matter how hard I worked for it."

"Yeah, you've got a point. Let's just do it." Pico Devimon said, "Just as long as you take the blame and I get my power items."

"Deal," Ryo agreed. 

The first thing they did was leave the shadows and scoot across the street to Devitamamon's mansion. At first Ryo had assumed they would enter at the shop section of the mansion since that's probably where the Digimental was, but Pico Devimon wouldn't hear of it.

"That's too risky, Devitamamon often spends time there and coming in when he's there will ruin everything."

"So what are we going to do then?" Ryo asked when they were running along the side of Devitamamon's huge mansion, hunched down to avoid being seen through the windows. Well, Ryo was bending over, Pico Devimon was small enough so he didn't have to. 

"Around the corner is a wing of the house Devitamamon almost never visits. We can enter there and then go to the shop from the inside." Pico Devimon said.

Going round the corner Ryo saw that the windows in this area were indeed dark and even better, they were standing in a small street, barely three meters wide between Devitamamon's mansion and another building. 

"There's a window a few feet ahead, we'll enter there." Pico Devimon said, flying over to the window and peering in. Ryo followed suit and looked in as well, but in the dark he couldn't make out a thing.

Quietly Pico Devimon started to work on the window and within moments he had it open.

"Piece of cake, "the bat boasted,"there's not a lock in the world that can stop me."

"So I see," Ryo said, getting a bit impatient and nervous now that they were actually going into the house. For a moment he wondered if he was indeed doing the right thing, but he put his doubts away. What he was doing was for the greater good and in this case the ends indeed justified the means.

They had entered a long hallway, completely dark with large wooden doors on their left side, each separated by a few meters of decorated wooden walls. To their right were large windows, the glow of the moon and the streetlights illuminated the hallway just enough for Ryo to see by. Pico Devimon didn't have any problem seeing whatsoever considering the type of Digimon he was. 

The bat flew ahead with Ryo tailing him, he felt nervous but also elated. The adrenaline was starting to pound inside his body, the risk of getting caught only made it more exciting. Every time they passed one of the doors he expected it to open, giving them away to Devitamamon, but this didn't happen. Ryo started to believe what Pico Devimon had said, that Devitamamon didn't come here often and surely wasn't here now. But where was he then? It would have eased his mind if he only knew that one small fact. 

"Where to now?" Ryo whispered to Pico Devimon when they were starting to reach the end of the hallway. A large door, somewhat larger then the other ones in the hall, was all that stood in their way now. Pico Devimon flew over to the door and started listening and looking into the keyhole trying to make sure that no one was waiting for them on the other side. At first he really didn't want to help Ryo and was even prepared to sell him out the first chance he got, but now that he was actually doing the break-in these thoughts had left him. Call it professional pride, but once doing what he did best losing wasn't an option. He would see this through to the end, proving that he could even steal from the powerful Devitamamon. _The bastard won't know what hit him, he thought arrogantly._

After about a minute the bat was pretty sure the room behind the door was empty, but he didn't open it yet. Flying to one of the hinges, he observed it intently, trying to determine if it would creak when he opened the door. Satisfied that it wouldn't he went to the second and took his time to examine it as well. Ryo looked on in awe, amazed at the level of skill the little pick-pocket portrayed. 

"Okay," Pico Devimon whispered, "the door won't make a sound when you open it. Just let me check once more if the room is empty." 

Satisfied, after a few seconds of peeking through the keyhole, the two opened the door and went through.

The shop lay behind the next door, Ryo was sure of it. Part of him wanted nothing more then to rush in to get the Golden Digimental Piece, he was so close. But his rational part knew that would be a big mistake and let Pico Devimon continue with his examination of the door. They had been moving slowly and as far as he could tell almost an hour had already passed. Pico Devimon was very precise, seeming to know every trap and security measure that Devitamamon had installed and how to disable it. This only proved his former suspicions that the bat had already planned to rob Devitamamon one day.

"We're in," Pico Devimon said softly," I'm not completely sure about the emptiness of the shop itself from here, but we have no other choice." 

"Then let's go," Ryo said, determined to get what he came for.

"You open it and go in first, remember the deal, I'm not to be found in this." 

"Right," Ryo said, rolling his eyes at the bat's cowardice.

Grasping the handle he opened the door a bit, peering into the room through the small opening. The room was dark, lit only by the moonlight coming through the windows. Quietly he snuck into the room, beckoning to Pico Devimon to follow him. Flying up to Ryo the bat looked about himself but didn't see anything he liked. 

"Are there any traps here?" Ryo asked.

"No, to dangerous, they might go of when there are customers or an item was moved. The only security measures here are all at the front door."

"Good," Ryo said, wasting no more time he hurried over to the shelf that contained the Golden Digimental Piece. Or rather, which had contained the piece, it was gone now. Ryo was baffled, looking at the empty place on the shelf. Obviously Devitamamon had moved it, maybe even to prevent a burglary such as this. _Clever little egg_, Ryo spitefully thought.

"So what are you waiting for?" Pico Devimon hissed when Ryo was just standing around doing nothing. 

"It's gone, the item I need isn't here anymore," Ryo said, a slight panicky tone starting to resound in his voice. He hadn't just come all this way just to find an empty shelf, what was he to do now? _NO NO NO! This isn't happening, where is he hiding it?_

"Figures, I thought Devitamamon wouldn't just leave it here. He doesn't leave items that give him power over others laying around where everyone can take it." Pico Devimon said.

"So, do you know where it is then?" Ryo said calmly, regaining his composure.

"Yes and it's right where the stuff I need is as well. The stuff you see here is the merchandise Devitamamon thinks has no real value to him. Everything else goes in a special safe, a large vault somewhere in this mansion. I figured we had to go there all along." Pico Devimon explained.

"Then why didn't we go there in the first place?" Ryo demanded.

"'Cause you didn't say so, you wanted me to get you into the shop." 

"That's because I thought the Golden Digimental Piece was here!" Ryo said loudly, then slammed his hands in front of his mouth.

"Great going Einstein," Pico Devimon muttered, looking around him worriedly. Both of them stood still for several frightening minutes till they were pretty sure no one heard them. 

"Oops," Ryo muttered.

"You can say that again."

"Oops," Ryo said grinning, the situation was so absurd and tense he just couldn't help himself.

"Very funny, you do realize we don't have the luxury of staying here and joke around all night?"

"I know. Can you get me to that vault?" 

"Yes I can. You're lucky to have me around," Pico Devimon said with a superior smirk on his face. "It's where I had wanted to go as well. The items of power, if there are any, should be kept there. Remember our bargain, you can keep your thing but those items are mine." 

"I remember, let's just go." Ryo said, getting a bit impatient with all the delays and setbacks. He knew that every second he wasted here would be one more second removed from Ken, V-mon and Wormmon. He still had to catch up to them after he got the Digimental piece and out of the city. I just hope they got far enough away not to be caught if something goes wrong, he thought before setting of again with Pico Devimon. Slinking around Devitamamon's house took a lot of concentration, so any thoughts about the others had to wait till he was done. Besides, they were safe now and he couldn't do anything for them anyway.

Yet again the two burglars were walking through a corridor, though this one wasn't as dark as the others. It was obvious they were going into Devitamamon's living quarters or at least a place he was more likely to visit. Along the walls hung candelabras with burning candles in them which illuminated the otherwise dark hall. The glow of the fire gave the hallway a homely feeling, but that was just what was so disturbing. Homely means inhabited and that means more chance for them to be caught. 

"There aren't any traps here," Pico Devimon said," Devitamamon often comes here at night and doesn't want to be caught in one of his own devices. Besides, he figures that for anyone to come here they would have already set of a trap along the perimeter of the place."

"Kind of makes sense, though he'll regret that now," Ryo said.

"There might still be cameras though, so we'll have to keep a sharp look out." The bat said, not wanting to be caught before even getting the items he sought. He had managed to get a pretty good idea of Devitamamon's inventory over the years and there were some things he really wanted to get his hands on. Ryo was right, they might truly give him the power necessarily to evolve, but the possibility of getting caught by Devitamamon before he could use them had always stopped him from taking them. Now, with Ryo to take the fall for the burglary he would let nothing stop him from getting what he wanted. 

Slowly but surely the two made their way into Devitamamon's inner sanctuary. Luckily for them the vault was located a fair distance away from Devitamamon's bedroom so chances were they wouldn't be caught after all. At long last, about fifteen long minutes after leaving the shop behind them, they reached a large iron door, the door to the vault. 

"We're here," Ryo said, "now do your stuff Pico Devimon and we can both leave here with what we came for."

"Right," he said and got over to the locking mechanism. Once he broke the encryption Ryo would simply have to turn the iron wheel to open the door. But first he'd have to break the code, which would take all of his skill and concentration. Standing back Ryo took upon the task of lookout while the little bat did his magic.

"Not this one, then maybe this one. Hmmm, that's odd, oh wait…" Pico Devimon mumbled as he examined the locking-mechanism and disconnected wires. At long last he let out a satisfied sigh and called Ryo over. 

"We're almost done now, I hacked the lock so just turn the wheel to open the door," the thief whispered over to the boy.

"At last," Ryo said, letting out a sigh of relief as he took hold of the wheel and opened the vault. 

Stepping inside Ryo quickly examined the room, for a room it was. The walls where made of metal, or actually Chrome Digizoid, but it was still a room. 

"Wow, this place is huge," he whispered as his eyes fell on a particular cabinet. Pico Devimon flew inside as well and was impressed with the wealth stored here. Not just money but all kinds of items, relics and devices which would be worth a fortune were stored here. Though that wasn't what he came for, he soon found what he was looking for. In one of the far corners stood a heavy oaken closet, opened up revealing items of Darkness and the bat digimon gave a smirk of satisfaction. 

Meanwhile Ryo had picked up the Golden Digimental Piece and brought his digivice over to it. With a slight flash of light it was absorbed and Ryo once again pocketed his little device. Then he took forth his D-Terminal to check on the status of the Golden Digimental. The egg-outline on the screen was filled more now but it still wasn't complete. Oh _well, at least I'm a step closer now. _

Unfortunately he didn't have any more time to wallow in his victory as sounds from outside the vault could be heard. 

"It's Devitamamon!" Pico Devimon whispered urgently,"there must have been a hidden silent alarm."

"Then lets get out of here!" Ryo said.

"No, remember our deal, I'm not to be found here. You'll have to go out and draw him away so I can get MY items and escape unnoticed."

Ryo wanted to protest, but knew there wasn't any time. If they were caught in the vault there would be no escape for either of them and he had given his word to Pico Devimon. _He wouldn't care about keeping his promises, but I'm not like him_, Ryo thought, making up his mind. Pocketing the D-Terminal he made a sprint to the vault door, noticing another object on his way. It was a staff, white as snow with a large snowflake-like thing on top. It reminded him of a digimon he had met earlier, someone who had lost something important to him. _My wizard staff. I suspect that Devitamamon has it in his possession, but I won't be able to prove it. I won't leave without it. Sorcerymon said._

On impulse Ryo grabbed it from the pile of junk it was laying on, on his way out of Devitamamon's wealth deposit. Standing once again in the hallway, Ryo saw an egg-like shape getting closer from a side corridor, Devitamamon himself.

"He what do you think you are doing you filthy thief!" Devitamamon bellowed, increasing his pace.

"Getting the hell out of here!" Ryo shouted back and darted down another corridor back to the shop. He knew it was to late to get out the way he came, but the shop had plenty of windows for him to use. 

With Ryo gone and Devitamamon in hot pursuit, Pico Devimon let out a sigh of relief before laughing in triumph. He had done it, he had made his way into Devi's most sacred place and no one would know he was there thanks to Ryo. Grinning he looked at the assorted items in front of him, which didn't look like much to the casual observer. A few gears, some cables, all plain black. But he knew they were far from plain, they were instruments of power, HIS power. In front of his eyes the items started to glow with a dark red light. 

"Get back here! Ryo!" Devitamamon shouted as he ran after Ryo. If it hadn't been for the boy's head start and the adrenaline pumping through his veins he would have been caught already. 

"Dazzling Eye!" Devitamamon shouted, shooting red laser beams from his many eyes at Ryo, but he missed again. Throwing caution completely to the wind, ignoring any trap that might still be active he threw open the door in front of him, running into the shop. He didn't have a lot of time left before Devitamamon was on him, the attacks were already getting close. No time left to try the door, which was probably locked anyway, he simply ran towards one of the large windows.

"Dazzling Eye!" 

Jumping aside, the lasers missed Ryo but collided heavily with one of the windows, completely shattering it. Seeing the opportunity he dashed forward and lunged through the opening into the night air. 

"No!" Devitamamon shouted after him, his voice full of rage. 

"Be seeing you," Ryo waved with his free hand then ran away into the night. 

"Guards! I've been robbed! Guards!" He heard the egg shout.

The calmness of the night was interrupted by the patrols of the city guard. They were all Icemon, adult digimon which looked a lot like Gotsumon but made of ice instead of rock. Chief of the guard was Super Starmon, a perfect level digimon shaped like a golden star with sunglasses. Right now, due to Devitamamon's emergency all reserves had been called to service resulting in many patrols, consisting of two Icemon each. 

"Why are we even out here? It's cold and I was just in the middle of a good dream," an Icemon said.

"Someone stole from Devitamamon, a human apparently."

"I can't believe anyone is stupid enough to steal from him, he'll never get out of the city." 

When the voices died down, Ryo emerged from a shadowy niche and looked about him. The street was empty so he quickly dashed across it and into another alley. He was amazed at how fast the guards had been mobilized and how many there actually were. There was no way he'd be able to sneak passed the guards at the city gate now. Nor could he get out of the city the same way he got in. There didn't seem to be any vines to climb in on this side of the wall_. It's the same as in Devitamamon's mansion, I'll have to find another way out_, he thought. For a moment he looked at the staff he was carrying. He didn't know how, but he was sure it was Sorcerymon's staff, it just fit the wizard to well. 

"I have to return this to him before I go," he muttered. 

The trip to Sorcerymon's apartment seemed to take forever. It was only a few streets away from where he was hiding before, but he had to take careful means to avoid detection. Several times it was a really close shave with the guards, only remaining unnoticed purely by luck. Ryo was scared out of his mind at times, this was something he had never expected. It was supposed to be easy, get the piece and leave the city by sneaking passed a few guards. Well, this was far from easy and far from just a few guards. 

_That's the last time I do something like this_, he thought, _one way or the other. And I'm not looking forward to the other._

He had no intention whatsoever of finding out how the Digiworld treated criminals, especially not in Tama City. Ryo doubted that Devitamamon would show him any mercy. He wondered briefly what had happened to Pico Devimon, but only for a moment. There simply wasn't any time to worry about anyone but himself. 

The sight that greeted him when he reached the apartment complex Sorcerymon was staying at wasn't reassuring. He could only make one glance at it from an alley at the other side of the street, but it didn't look good. _It's amazing to see how many alleys there are in this city_, Ryo considered briefly, wondering how he could think about something like that at a time like this. Still it was true, he had never seen this many side-streets, alleys and passageways in a city before. To get somewhere it almost wasn't even necessary to use the main streets.

Sorcerymon's place was guarded, he knew it instantly. It wasn't just the extra patrols walking in front of the building more so then anywhere else he had seen, but a gut feeling inside of him. If he passed the guards and into the building itself he was sure to be jumped on instantly. _So he saw what I was carrying after all and figured out what I would do with it, he thought. Unfortunately he had no idea what to do about if. He couldn't just leave with the staff, but neither could he give it back to Sorcerymon. He didn't even know if he could get out of the city anymore. So caught up in his thoughts was he that he didn't notice someone sneaking up on his till he felt a hand clasping his shoulder._

"What is it with all this commotion?" Sorcerymon asked out loud as he got out of his not-so-comfortable chair. All day he had felt strange disturbances, like something important was happening. Attuned to the flows of magic like he was it was easy for him to detect subtle changes in the power that belied the coming of bigger events and changes. Today however the changes in the flows of magic were far from subtle, it was like someone had thrown a rock in a lake sending ripples across the water surface. But these ripples only seemed to be getting stronger and not weaker like those in water. 

"Guess I should check it out," he muttered. 

Looking out into the hallway he saw a two Icemon from the city guard standing close to his door.

"Good day gentlemon, what can I do for you?" He said politely. 

"For us? We are just standing here, just go back inside sir." an Icemon said.

"Official business, can't say anymore." The second Icemon added. 

_Oh really_? Sorcerymon thought, making a few hand movements out of sight of the guards. 

"I could be of help to you if told me why you are here," Sorcerymon said in a calm soothing voice, "then you can go back to bed and out of this dreary building."

"You would help us?" The first Icemon guard asked stupidly, looking into the endless depths of Sorcerymon's blue eyes. 

"Of course," the wizard replied. 

"Devitamamon was robbed tonight, he believes the perpetrator to be coming here." The first guard said.

"Why would he think that?" Sorcerymon asked. 

"I don't know, he just said the thief was a human and that he most likely would come here." The second guard said. 

"I see, well you are wasting your time. He won't come here, wish I could help you more," Sorcerymon said and went back inside his room_. So the thief is a human is it? Must be Ryo, I see he listened to me after all. Though I never figured he'd go as far as stealing from Devitamamon. _

On a hunch he sends out his thoughts along the lines of magic that connected him to his staff and noticed it was closer now! _So that's why Devitamamon thought Ryo would be coming here and why the guards aren't given a reason. For that would prove that Devitamamon had been keeping my possessions from me, making him guilty of theft as much as Ryo. _

"But where is Ryo exactly?" He wondered, sending out his thoughts again to the staff. He found it quickly, it was almost right there with him already so apparently Devitamamon was right about his assumptions. Sensing further he quickly ascertained the exact location to an alley across the street. 

"Time to get involved, he'll never make to the building." Sorcerymon decided.

He almost screamed out when the hand touched him, but managed to restrain himself. Turning around quickly to try and fend off the guards. He still had Sorcerymon's staff and though he couldn't use it for its magic it was still a good enough club. But it wasn't a guard at all, but an entirely different digimon wearing white robes and a pointy white hat. 

"Sorcerymon? You almost gave me a heart attack." Ryo exclaimed, holding a hand to his heart.

"Sorry, but I couldn't just go out and shout 'Hey Ryo, what's up?' now could I?" Sorcerymon quipped. 

"Guess not, but why and how are you here now?" Ryo asked, looking about nervously for any signs of detection. 

Sorcerymon gave a short laugh. "I used a simple teleportation spell to get here and as for why. Well, I detected something of mine in the vicinity and thought I should check it out. You have my staff right?"

"Here it is, at least I think it is," Ryo said, handing over the staff to Sorcerymon who looked at it in wonder. Slowly he took it from the boy and looked it over in his hands, taking in every detail. 

"It is, I thank you Ryo," Sorcerymon said, making a formal bow to him.

"It was nothing. I came across it while doing some business and thought it was yours, so I took it. It was in Devitamamon's safe by the way. You were right, but wait a second. If you knew how to find me by the staff then why didn't you just use your teleport to go to it in the first place?"

"The spell for teleportation is only for short range and I didn't know where to teleport to. I couldn't pinpoint an exact location other then the city in general, must be because the safe is warded somehow." Sorcerymon explained.

"That would be right up Devitamamon's alley," Ryo muttered resentfully.

"I take it you also got what you came for?" Sorcerymon said, realizing they couldn't talk here for long at the risk off being discovered by passing guards.

"I did, but now I can't get out of the city. I couldn't even get to your apartment to return your staff." Ryo said dejectedly. 

"Don't worry, for returning my staff to me I'll repay the debt by getting you safely out of town." Sorcerymon assured.

"Can't you just teleport me out?" Ryo asked when the two of them were hiding from a nearby group of guards behind some dustbins. 

"Sorry, short-ranged and only teleports me," Sorcerymon whispered back. 

"Just my luck," Ryo said sarcastically. "Okay, how about we do the plan one more time?"

"Let's go." Sorcerymon replied.

Leaving their hiding place the two of them walked over to the guards. The four Icemon looked over at the two, recognition dawning in their eyes when the lamp light shone on them. 

"Guards, I found this one walking around, since he's a hunted criminal I thought I'd do my duty and turn him over." Sorcerymon said, his left hand on Ryo's shoulder, while holding his staff poised at the boy's neck.

"Well, done. Just turn him over to us." An Icemon said, Ryo and Sorcerymon were now standing right in front of them. 

"Sure thing," Sorcerymon said, pushing Ryo to the Icemon. Except instead of being caught be them, he ducked and rolled over the ground out of their grasp, emerging behind them. As the Icemon turned their backs on Sorcerymon to pursue Ryo, the wizard struck. His staff, enchanted to increase its strength and toughness, was more then enough to knock out two of the Icemon when he hit them with it. The other two, surprised as they were from the sudden attack, started to turn around again. Sorcerymon didn't give them the chance to attack him.

"Crystal Cloud!" He shouted, shooting white crystals out of his staff at the remaining Icemon, knocking them back several feet before the hit the ground and lost consciousness. 

"That went well," Ryo said, rubbing his shoulder. He bruised it a bit with his little manoeuvre, but otherwise he still felt fine. 

"It did," Sorcerymon said, suddenly noticing a patrol further up the street. "How about we do it again?"

"Sure thing," Ryo said with a grin on his face. Once again he felt Sorcerymon's staff against his neck as they marched to the approaching digimon.

"Guards, I found this one…" Sorcerymon started saying when they came close enough for the Icemon to hear them.

Taking out patrols like this, the two quickly found their way to the eastern exit, which was heavily guarded. Their little tricks wouldn't work here, for to get here was to go passed to many patrols not to be noticed. So they went for a different strategy altogether this time, a little less finesse and a bit more brute force. 

"Crystal Cloud!" A voice shouted into the night while sharp white crystals collided with an Icemon. The others quickly sprang into action, throwing round objects made of ice towards the place the attack had come from. The balls shattering on impact, shooting sharp pieces of ice all around them for a radius of almost two meters. 

_Clever_, thought Ryo who looking on from a distance, _even if they don't hit the target directly they can still wound it._

Meanwhile Sorcerymon was having the same thoughts, but he was nowhere near the place the bombs went of. The moment he had made his attack he had dashed aside, followed by a quick teleportation.

"Ice bombs won't cut it here," he whispered, bringing his staff to bear. The guards, the five Icemon that remained, were slowly making their way to were Ryo was hiding. 

"Hey, over here!" Ryo shouted, coming out of hiding and waving his arms around. Then he turned tail and ran in the other direction. The Icemon wasted no time and ran after the boy in pursuit. Sorcerymon looked on, thinking of how stupid it was for them to rush of like that. _They could have walked straight into an ambush, he thought, then teleported behind the Icemon. _

"Crystal Cloud!" Sorcerymon shouted, shooting down two Icemon in quick succession. The others, realizing their mistake, started to turn around more quickly then Sorcerymon had hoped. He managed to take out one more before the others attacked him, throwing their bombs. In a split second he raised his staff, and shouted the spell he had kept in his mind for a situation like this.

"Instant Reflect!" He shouted and a translucent barrier appeared in front of him. The bombs hit it, Sorcerymon could already see the triumphant smirks on the Icemon's faces as the bombs collided. For a moment, just one second, they just hung in the air in front of Sorcerymon. Then, with the same speed they had before they shot back at the Icemon hitting them instead. They went off on impact, but thanks to their icy skin, tough as a rock, they survived. Though they were now unconscious, laying on the cold ground, the way out of the city now opened up to Ryo.

"We made quit a trail, didn't we Sorcerymon," Ryo said, ducked down in an alleyway, already far away from the eastern exit. Already news had spread about the attack on the east gate and patrols were quickly dispatched towards it and the land beyond. No doubt they might still be able to catch the attackers before they got to far away. _A pity they would never catch us that way, Ryo snickered._

"We did, now all we have to do is make sure they stay on it," Sorcerymon acknowledged. The two stood crouched by a sewer drain, the cover being lifted by Sorcerymon as they spoke. Ryo didn't look forward to going in the sewer again, but knew it was the best way. If they were seen traversing the city all their plans would be wasted, Devitamamon would find out he hadn't left via the East Gate and send out patrols in the other directions as well. 

"After you," Sorcerymon said. 

"Thank you," Ryo said dryly, lowering himself into the tunnel. After quickly checking if there was any one watching, Sorcerymon followed the boy in the sewer. With a swift motion of his staff he lifted the cover again and placed it over the opening, making it seem it was never lifted in the first place. 

Ryo had already moved to a side-drain while Sorcerymon was descending to check whether or not they were really alone. Though the city guard was now mostly at the eastside of town, the same might not be said about the sewer guards, still their best chance at remaining unnoticed was by taking the sewer.

Ryo sighed, "And here I thought I'd rid myself of this horrible smell. Now I have to take another bath again."

"These tunnels make for quite a maze. One could, if they knew the way, stay hidden here for quite a while." Sorcerymon observed after they had steadily been making their way west, going through many tunnels and drains. 

"Yes, while V-mon and I were working here we never encountered any of the other sewer-jacks. We only came across the Goblimon by chance. This really is a weak point of the city, if used correctly." Ryo replied.

"Yes, I think I'll be using it," Sorcerymon said softly. 

"What do you mean?" Ryo asked, looking over at the white wizard.

"Word must have reached Devitamamon by now that I've helped you. I've become an outlaw in this city." 

"I know, I'm sorry it turned out that way, but I was hoping that perhaps you'd be willing to join me in my mission." Ryo said. Sorcerymon and Ryo stopped at an intersection of the tunnels, one wall had a few metal bars in it which served as a ladder to leave the sewers. Which was where they were going, back up and back to the last part of the plan in getting Ryo out of Tama City.

"I'd love to Ryo, I really would, but I can't. I have my staff back, but there are still too many digimon here that are under Devitamamon's power. I want to help them and from these sewers, which spread under the entire city, I can help them or at least try."

"I understand, it's a noble goal and I hope you succeed." Ryo said, though he was a bit sad that Sorcerymon wasn't going to join him. The wizard was smart and strong, a perfect ally in the coming battles, but he couldn't force him. Together the two outlaws started to climb up the metal bars in the tunnel wall, back to the surface. 

"So close, yet so far away," Ryo whispered. The Western Gate was still guarded, as they knew it would be, but by the standard number of guards, namely two. The road to freedom lay before him, but this time they couldn't just storm the gate to get passed. Worse still, the wooden gate doors were closed as a precautionary measure. 

"This is bad, they weren't closed at the east gate, what's going on?" Ryo asked. 

"I don't know, maybe it's just that with all the guards out in the east and the city nearly defenceless, Devitamamon decided to close the gates. But this changes nothing for us, the plan must continue." Sorcerymon answered. 

"Then lets do it," Ryo said, his resolve set, "I'm getting tired of this damnable city."

Dashing out of the alley Sorcerymon and Ryo ran as fast as they could to the two Icemon at the gate. 

"Hey! What's this?" An Icemon demanded of them, but before the guards could act Sorcerymon brought up his staff.

"Sleep!" He shouted, his staff giving out a white flash which quickly engulfed the two Icemon. When the light disappeared the two guards were down. Checking up on them, Ryo noticed they were still breathing but otherwise really were out cold. Succumb to Sorcerymon's spell, the two Icemon were now fast asleep.

"What's going to happen to them now?" Ryo asked, still kneeling at the two sleepers.

"After you leave I will reawaken them, they won't know what happened so your escape will remain unnoticed."

"But what if they tell someone they were asleep and he puts two and two together?" Ryo wondered, if that happened they would come after him and this time in the right direction. 

"They won't tell anyone, they wouldn't want people to know they're sleeping on the job. They could be fired." 

"You're right," Ryo said, getting up he went over to the gate. Flipping open the locks he opened the gate wide enough for him leave by. Before he did he looked back at Sorcerymon one more time. 

"Thank you for all you've done, Sorcerymon. Without you I wouldn't have been able to get away." 

"You returned my staff to me, it's the least I can do." Sorcerymon replied, signalling for Ryo to get going. Nodding once, Ryo turned his back on Sorcerymon and Tama City and disappeared into the darkness.

Running as fast as he could possibly go, Ryo managed to reach the edge of the forest without being detected. Although he was now in the forest, away from the prying eyes, he still didn't feel safe. While running, he brought forth his digivice and initiated the tracking mode to find Ken and the others. Immediately a red dot appeared at the top of the display. 

"Now to rejoin with them and get as far away from this place as possible," Ryo muttered to himself.  

Preview of the next chapter:

Ryo is coming close to reaching Machine City to finish of Mugen Dramon, but the machine Ultimate is only one piece of the puzzle. The other piece, Chimeramon, remains a mystery. But not for long…


	12. Other Voices

Disclaimer: I do not own digimon, nor am I trying to make any money with this story.

Chapter 11: Other Voices

Ryo's log: August 2000, Digiworld, somewhere on the Server Continent.

After I managed to steal the third piece of the Golden Digimental and then succeeded in getting out of the city unharmed, I regrouped with the others the next day a few miles west of Tama City. 

Luckily there didn't appear to be any pursuit, but one can never be too careful when in Digiworld. Travelling west towards Machine City I tried to maintain a low profile as much as possible, ignoring settlements and digimon alike. Surprisingly Ken didn't really object to this, nor did he press on about finding people to help. I asked both V-mon and Wormmon if they had told Ken what I really did back in Tama City. They said they didn't, but suspected that the young Chosen had figured it out for himself. I'm inclined to agree with them, Ken is very smart for his age and it's hard to put anything passed him. I've caught him making worried glances at me; further acknowledging my beliefs that he knows I stole the third piece. He seems to understand though, which is one worry of my back. Still I would have preferred for him not to know, I don't want to set the wrong example for him to follow. Maybe I should talk to him about it.

Anyway, we are coming closer to Machine City after about six days of travel. I estimate we may reach our destination somewhere during the evening. Soon we will be able to fight Mugen Dramon, but without the Golden Digimental to back us up since we seem to be missing a piece. Does this mean all my efforts in getting the other pieces was in vain or will they still be of use to me? Unfortunately I don't know the answers to those questions.  

End log.

Rumours and tall tales had always surrounded the peak. No one knew how the stories started or why they were told, but the lonely pillar of rock in the middle of a dense forest simply had an air of mystery surrounding it. It was tall, at least several hundred meters in height, and about a hundred meters in diameter. The tales told of the Lonely Spire and what it contained were as diverse as the species of digimon themselves, but they all had something in common. It was dangerous. 

"Have you heard about the treasure?" A voice said from the forest. 

"Not really, but it must be worth a fortune if no one is allowed to come here, let's go get it," A second voice said.

"I'm not so sure, it might be dangerous," A third voice said, more meek then the others.

Coming out of the forest in the slight clearing around the Spire were three digimon. A blue penguin-like digimon, called Penmon. Candmon, who looked like a candelabra and Floramon, the plant digimon.

"Come on girl, where is your sense of adventure?" Penmon coaxed, feeling all macho for getting his two friends to come with him to find out the mystery of the mountain.

"We are simply going to have a look," Candmon said, looking at the rock in front of him, "besides, all those rumours of danger are just to scare children to bed. You're not a scared child are you?"

"N-no, of course not," Floramon said, not wanting to seem like a coward in front of her friends, " L-let's go then." 

Afraid she might back out if she waited any longer Floramon took point and moved over to the peak, looking up as she did so. Somewhere, about a hundred meters or two higher she reckoned, a black spot could be seen. _It might be a cave_, she thought.

"Look! We have to go up there," Floramon said and immediately started climbing before she lost her nerve.

"Hey, wait up babe, "Penmon called out, then started to climb after Floramon, Candmon close behind, though the fire digimon had some trouble climbing considering he only had a candelabra-base for legs.

"Guys, wait for me!" Candmon complained.

The three young friends climbed for quite a while, resting on rocky ledges when they felt too tired, which was mostly Candmon. His species of digimon wasn't really intended to scale mountains. 

At long last though, they made it up to the black spot Floramon had noticed when they were still at the base. It was a cave, just like she had thought, and quite a big one too. Slowly the three walked about a meter inside, gawking at the size of the place. They couldn't see much for the cave was completely dark. Luckily for them they had Candmon with them, the small flame on top of his candle head gave of enough light for them to see by, even if it only had a small radius.

"This is great, who knows what kind of hidden treasures could be inside this thing," Penmon said in awe. 

"Let's go inside!" Candmon said enthusiastically taking a few steps further into the cave, Penmon following close behind. So caught up in their own little adventure were they that they didn't even notice that Floramon hadn't followed them inside.

"G-guys? I have a bad feeling about this, maybe we should just go." Floramon called out to the slight glow in the darkness, Candmon and Penmon had already descended quite far into the cave.

"Aw, come on Flora, there's nothing else here," Penmon called back.

"I wouldn't be too sure of that," Another voice said from further into the darkness. 

"W-what?" Candmon whispered, scared out of his mind by the disembodied voice. It wasn't just the fact that there was something with them in the cave, but more like the tone of its voice that was the most frightening. It was cold, like coming out of a deep void, and condescending and arrogant towards them, it was the voice of evil itself. 

"You should have listened to her," The voice continued. 

Candmon started to turn around and try to get out of the cave when a red claw shot out of the darkness and grabbed him. Before the young child could react he was pulled back further into the cave, towards whatever was hiding there. Penmon screamed, he couldn't believe what was happening. Not waiting another second, the penguin ran back towards the cave entrance, now in total darkness without Candmon's flame to light the way. He never saw the claw that crushed him from behind. 

Floramon meanwhile had also heard the voice and Penmon's scream when all went silent again. 

"No, I have to get away," she muttered to herself, knowing that her two friends were gone and she was likely to follow next. Her eyes started to tear up and she regretted it deeply that she had let the boys convince her it would make a great adventure to discover the secret of the Lonely Spire. She turned around, planning to jump of the mountain and then use her vines to stop her fall when she was away from the cave. She knew she had to try it this way since climbing back down would take to long. Floramon sincerely hoped she was strong enough to pull it of and that it wouldn't hurt a lot. Nearing the edge of the short flat expanse of rock in front of the gaping maw of darkness, her back was now turned to it. The poor Floramon didn't see the darkness of the cave giving way to a green eerie light. She jumped of the edge, hanging suspended in the air for a moment waiting for gravity to do its work and pull her down. 

"Heat Viper!" She heard the voice say and felt a sudden heat behind her. That's when the green energy beam engulfed her, erasing her from existence. 

"Well, that was certainly an interesting diversion, "the voice said, coming closer to the cave entrance now. The creature's head turned slightly to the west, seemingly able to see or sense what was going on there.

"Hmmm, it seems he's coming closer now. Time for me to reveal myself to him and complete our destiny." 

Revealing himself into the sunlight, a gigantic beast of incredible power, he looked out onto the horizon. Spreading his wings, all four of them, the beast with the voice of evil took flight, leaving the cave behind him forever.

The area surrounding the ruined city of the late Dark Master, Mugen Dramon, was usually devoid of any action if not life. Most digimon didn't like to be around such a dark place as Machine City and stayed clear of it. Others, evil digimon or machine digimon, spend their time in the city itself, rarely venturing far out of the city. 

Of course some digimon still lived in the desolated plains surrounding the ruins, but they were peaceful and had no need or desire for a more active life, only to continue existing in peace. Since a few days however things started to heat up in the area, child digimon of all kinds started to disappear, kidnapped by what some called the Hunter. From the few eyewitness reports the Hunter was a red flying digimon of the insect type, sleek, aerodynamic and fast. He was armoured, his leg and arms ending in claw-like appendages. His shoulder pads were grey and spiked, as was his armoured head. At his back he had a red tail, ending in a nasty spike. His name, though none of the digimon concerned knew it, was Flybeemon.

Running through the long grass under the trees of a small forest, was a young Elecmon. Only moments ago he had been relaxing in the sun, happy that he'd managed to sneak out of his tasks. Now he was on the run from an evil digimon who was after him for some reason. All that he could think of while he ran was that it was the Hunter, the kidnapper who had gotten to so many other child digimon like him in the area. 

Glancing behind him he saw a red blur shooting through the plant life, racing after him. If he didn't know better Elecmon thought that the Hunter was playing with him, but that just couldn't be, right? If he played with his prey then there was a bigger chance of messing up and getting caught. Then he realized that there wasn't anyone around that could help him or catch the Hunter. _He is playing with me_, Elecmon realized in horror.

"Buzz, why are you running my little one?" Said Flybeemon, his voice low and slightly buzzing. The insect hung in the air behind Elecmon, looking on as the little child digimon tried to get away. It was all very amusing to him, every time he did this it became more and more fun. He loved playing the hunter, tracking down and then falling upon his prey. 

"Buzz, you can run but you can't hide, my prey. Buzz, you can't," he chuckled as he saw the Elecmon started to run a bit faster. With a grin, hidden by his helmet, the Flybeemon shot upwards through the forest canopy. Out of Elecmon's sight, but not vice-versa, the dragonfly waited for the perfect moment to strike to cause maximum fear in his little prey. _I love my job_, he thought before making a dive towards the ground.

Elecmon had hidden himself beneath a bush with thorns and though the smart protrusions were hurting him a bit, he hoped they would also detain the Hunter from catching him. Biting through the discomfort as the thorns scratched his skin he waited for the digimon to leave, how ever long that might take. A sudden 'zoof' noise made him glance up and he nearly jumped at the sight above him. Hanging above the bush was Flybeemon, looking down on him in contempt and triumph. 

"A pity, buzz, I hoped you would be more of a challenge. Buzz, oh well. Maybe next time," He said in his scratchy voice. 

Bringing his stinger up he proceeded by making a few quick swipes with it at the bush, cutting it to pieces instantly. With Elecmon's cover now completely shredded the electric rodent digimon's fate was now in Flybeemon claws, but then again it had been since the hunt started. 

"Poison Stinger," Flybeemon said, plunging his stinger in Elecmon for a few seconds. The venom from his tail quickly knocked Elecmon out cold. 

"Buzz, now to take you to the Master and get out on the hunt again." 

Miles away to east other digimon were on a sort of hunt of their own, only they had totally different objectives then the Flybeemon. Back in Tama City things had changed since Ryo's successful attempt at burglary on Devitamamon's mansion. For one, the status of alert in the town was never lifted, more guards patrol the streets then it had before Ryo made his visit to the city. This is mostly due to another side-effect of Ryo's burglary, namely Sorcerymon. Now that the white mage has regained his magical staff, he has pledged himself to overthrowing Devitamamon's tyranny and helping those who've suffered by the demonic egg's greed. 

To do this he has formed a resistance group sworn to opposing Devitamamon where they can. So far his little rag tag bunch of renegades didn't have a lot of numbers, but the whole thing of leading a resistance wasn't what he had expected. At first he was just trying to help digimon in need and get out again, but when some of those he helped started to follow him the thought of having more numbers appealed to him. This way he could cover more ground and take on bigger problems. 

So far he had five resistance members, himself not included, which consisted of three adults and two children. The younger digimon were all that would join him, sorry to say. The older ones, like most of the adults or perfects, had either lost hope or were heavily in league with Devitamamon. And aside from Devitamamon there were no other Ultimates.

The digimon that joined him were Icemon, a former guard and a fellow adult digimon. Hanumon, who looked like a large yellow ape, carrying a large bone around which he used as a club. He was an adult to and so is the next one, Sepikmon, a strange aboriginal-like digimon who wears an even stranger mask. 

The two child digimon are Bearmon and Yuki Agumon, though they are young they're also quite strong and driven. Bearmon looked like a grey teddy bear wearing a blue baseball cap with the word 'bears' on it. Yuki Agumon resembles a very small tyrannosaurus rex, completely white except for his dark green eyes.

Currently the whole group was together in one of the many sewer passages that lay beneath the rank streets of the large city. Helping digimon in need, which meant being hassled by Devitamamon's money brokers, was one thing but it didn't get them very far. Since yesterday, with the addition of Sepikmon into their ranks, they had taken to attacking Devitamamon's stores and warehouses. Right now they were at an exit close to one of the Ultimate digimon's warehouses. 

"Sepikmon, do you detect any guards around?" Sorcerymon asked.

"No, the exit is completely deserted," Sepikmon said after a few seconds, "we can leave the sewers without detection."

Sepikmon is the scout of the resistance, by using his boomerang to fly around in an area he can sense and see everything that happens around it, no matter where he himself is located. 

"Then we go," Sorcerymon said, looking at his group, "is everyone ready?"

After several acknowledgements the white mage took point and went up the ladder first.

"What a dump," Tsukaimon muttered, his eyes darting from side to side as he fluttered through the crowded street. 

"I certainly wouldn't want to live here," Thundermon added, who was flying about a meter above the streets like Tsukaimon.

"Shh, be quiet. We don't want to cause a riot," Turuiemon hissed. Angering the populace of a city of this size wouldn't be the best thing to do; they'd be hopelessly outnumbered if it should come to a fight. And besides, they weren't in the business of starting random fights anymore, only fights against so called 'evil-doers'. After helping out in the ravaged settlement called Chida Village, which was destroyed twice in a few days, the three had started to venture out again, following the direction Ryo had taken. Things seemed to happen around the human boy and that was where they wanted to be. Hearing rumours of Ryo's actions throughout their own trip it was certain they were going the right way. Now the question remained if he had gone through this city as well or if he had taken a completely different route.

"We need information about this place," Turuiemon said eyeing a particular building not to far away, "and I know just the place to get it."

Making their way to the building Turuiemon pointed out, the others could see that it was most likely a bar.

Turuiemon was the first to reach the building and entered, seeing that it was indeed a bar. The tavern had a plain wooden floor and though it was still early a lot of puddles of what looked like beer were spread around on parts of the floor. The floor itself was filled with a lot of round wooden tables, accompanied by simple wooden chairs. About half the tables were filled with a great diversity of digimon, though quite a few were occupied by the same kind of digimon, Icemon. _Probably their favourite bar or something_, Turuiemon mused as he strode over to the large bar area in front of him. Behind the large wooden bar itself, stood a very large digimon, easily twice Turuiemon's size. He looked like a large man, made completely out of blue flames, Blue Meramon. And behind him stood several very large cabinets, larger even then the barman himself, filled with bottles of a multitude of liquor. Turuiemon himself had never cared much for booze; it killed brain cells and made one slow, which with his life-style was a one way ticket to deletion. 

Still, what he needed most now was some information and by the looks of some of the patrons getting it wouldn't be too hard. _Let's see if they have anything other then alcohol, Turuiemon thought._

"What can I do you for?" the Blue Meramon asked when Turuiemon reached the bar. While the Perfect digimon could easily rest his arms on the bar without so much as reaching up or bending down, the same couldn't be said for Turuiemon. Given his size he could barely look over the large wooden bar, something which started to annoy him already. 

"Something without alcohol," Turuiemon said.

"Ha! That's very funny," Blue Meramon replied.

_That's what I thought,_ mused Turuiemon snidely, but out loud he said," Give me a beer then." 

He needed information and to get it he would have to blend in with the crowd. Looking them over once more he made a mental note not to do too much blending. Taking his beer he sat down on one of the barstools close to the tables, Tsukaimon and Thundermon following suit.

"Now keep your ears out for anything interesting, though these guys are probably to drunk to know anything. We need info on Ryo's whereabouts."

"There it is," Yuki Agumon said, eyeing the warehouse from across the street, "let's go and destroy it!" 

"No, we will only destroy what's inside, not the entire building, "Sorcerymon admonished, though he understood the young one's enthusiasm. Hopefully the other's remembered the plan and wouldn't just go attack the building itself. Sorcerymon wanted to cause Devitamamon trouble, but he wasn't willing to completely destroy pieces of the city itself, it could be dangerous to innocent digimon in the area. 

After leaving the sewer he had split the group into three smaller subsets so they could try to approach the warehouse from different angles and draw less attention upon themselves. 

He had taken Yuki Agumon with him, while Bearmon went with Hanumon, leaving Icemon and Sepikmon in the last group. 

"Okay, on my signal we quickly go to the front door, but remember to be careful," Sorcerymon said.

"I know, I know. I'll look after myself," replied the white dinosaur.

"Make sure you do," Sorcerymon said, looking at his companion one more time before he started to run over to the warehouse, Yuki Agumon close behind. While he didn't like the fact that he put child digimon at risk with his resistance, he also knew he needed them. 

They made it over to the door without any trouble; a quick Ice Stomp from Yuki Agumon destroyed the lock on the door so they could enter. 

The depot was huge, filled with numerous crates and boxes, leaving only a few small walkways between the piled goods. The little white dinosaur stood amazed for a moment, gazing at all the stuff that was kept inside the building, till Sorcerymon gave him a tap on the head to snap him out of it. This was their biggest target yet, but that was no reason to lose focus, in fact it was all the more reason to remain focused. There was no time to waste, the place might have an alarm which then should have gone of when they entered, though Sepikmon assured them there was none. The plan was quite simple, the two of the groups would enter the warehouse from opposite sides and start destroying stuff while making there way through it. Then, when the two forces met up in the centre they would make a new exit and escape. The third group would stay back in reserve, guarding their escape route and if need be create a diversion for the others to make it out. 

"Right, let's do it little one," Sorcerymon said, raising his staff to the boxes. 

"Don't call me little," Yuki Agumon huffed, but prepared an attack nonetheless.

The three friends sat at the bar for a while, Turuiemon taking only a few sips of his beer only when digimon started to notice he didn't drink anything. Blue Meramon especially gave him a lot of suspicious glances, but he ignored them as much as possible. They wouldn't be here long, in fact he was beginning to suspect this wasn't the right place after all. It was then that he overheard something the Icemon were talking about, some event that happened less then a week ago and still had this city into turmoil. _If Ryo travelled west then he would have passed this city about six days ago_! Turuiemon thought excitedly, though he didn't outwardly show it. This might be the break he needed to find the Chosen boy.

"Damn that human," said one of the Icemon, who was obviously a bit drunk, "cause of him we have to work double shift."

"What do you care? You don't do a thing anyway." Another Icemon said. This conversation peeked Turuiemon's interest, there weren't to many humans in the digiworld at this time, so the human was most likely Ryo. 

"What?! Sure I do stuff," the first one hastily defended himself.

"Yeah, you drink all day," a third one said, sending all but the first into a fit of laughter. Having found his first lead at finding Ryo in a long while, the purple bunny wasn't willing to lose it so quickly, but it wasn't likely the Icemon would continue on this subject. Turuiemon sighed, this meant he would have to go up to them and ask them what they knew about Ryo, for in his mind there was no doubt that the human they spoke about was Ryo. He was just about to go over to the small party, when the doors of the tavern opened and another Icemon entered the building, this one looking very stern and definitely sober. 

"You guards!" He shouted to all the Icemon present, "There's been a disturbance in the warehouse district, all of you report to duty now!" 

The way he looked at all the Icemon in the bar gave Turuiemon the distinct impression that he found it a disgrace that they were drinking while they should be on duty. Lethargically the Icemon slowly got up, but seeing the other Icemon's angered expression they sped up and left the building. When the other Icemon were gone, the messenger took a look around to see if they had truly all left and then followed the others.

Putting his beer down, which was mostly still full, he quickly spoke to his compatriots. 

"Let's check out this disturbance, I have a hunch we might find out more about our human this way."

The three quickly got up and sped to the door, intent on following the Icemon before they got to far away. 

"Hey! You haven't paid for that beer!" Blue Meramon shouted after them, but in seconds the Terrific Trio was gone. 

"It's been ten minutes," Icemon said, pacing around the sewer entrance, while keeping an eye out for trouble. If there was one thing he didn't like it was waiting, he would rather be in there helping. But if anything went wrong he had the best chance of infiltrating the guards, since he was a fellow Icemon. 

"Don't worry, they'll be fine," Sepikmon replied, standing at ease against a wall, his eyes closed. Though his eyes were closed, he could see better then Icemon at the moment. His boomerang was currently hovering over the warehouse, giving him a panoramic view of the building and the surrounding area. As long as he kept a sharp lookout for anything that could spell trouble, nothing would happen. The warehouse stood silent, surrounded by other buildings which didn't show much life either. The streets were empty aside from a casual pedestrian, though he did take a long look at the warehouse before walking on. Come to think of it, that guy did look a lot like that other one that went by ten minutes ago. Must be a coincidence, just like those shapes surrounding the district which looked a lot like Icemon in bad disguises. Everything seemed fine and since no one knew what they were planning there was no way the guards would…wait a minute. Shapes looking like Icemon surrounding the district and more specifically the warehouse? 

"Oh oh," Sepikmon said, his eyes snapping open.

"What?" demanded Icemon, who had stopped pacing the moment Sepikmon spoke up.

"We are found out, the guards are surrounding the warehouse, "Sepikmon answered.

"Then we have to get them out of there!" Icemon said.

"Little Blizzard!" Yuki Agumon called out, shooting a whitish-blue ball of energy out of his mouth. Where it hit the crates and boxes the energy froze them and the impact subsequently shattered them. With his little attacks, combined with Sorcerymon's phenomenal powers the two had steadily made there way to the centre of the warehouse, destroying the remaining goods while observing the destruction that made its way towards them. Several boxes in front of them shattered, showing two figures walking towards them.

"Humph, looks like we're done," the tallest of the two, Hanumon said. The four rebels, Sorcerymon,

Yuki Agumon, Hanumon and Bearmon observed their work and were pleased with what they saw. Everything the warehouse had stored was now destroyed and thus completely useless for Devitamamon. 

"Seems like it, now all we have to do is get out of here before we are found out," Sorcerymon said, "with any luck we'll be long gone before the guards find out what happened." 

At those words however part of the roof just crashed in, drawing the four rebels' glances immediately as they put their guards up. Hovering in the air above them was Sepikmon's boomerang making them all tense up as it flew around in a few circles before leaving back the way it came. 

"That's the warning signal! We've been discovered," Sorcerymon said, confirming everyone's thoughts. 

"Damn, "Hanumon said, "this was to easy to begin with, of course it wouldn't last."

"We have to get out of here!" Beamon pressed, not looking forward to prison. 

"It won't be easy, if I read the signs the boomerang made right, then we are already surrounded. We'll have to break out through who knows how many guards."

"Cool!" Yuki Agumon said excitedly, the others looked at him doubtfully, "uhm, I mean, that's horrible."

The others sighed, even in the face of incredible danger Yuki Agumon still had a lust for combat, it even seemed to increase his desire if the danger was great. Sorcerymon put the thoughts and worries about Yuki Agumon's desire for combat aside, concentrating instead on the problem at hand. He knew what Icemon and Sepikmon were going to do and where, so now it was only a matter for them to get out of the building and into a sewer while their fellow rebels made their diversion.

"This is nuts, there are too many," Sepikmon said, observing a part of the Icemon guards surrounding the warehouse. There were at least a hundred Icemon in sight, though they were split up into groups of ten, each separated by fifty meters. The two rebels could only see a few groups; more were obviously at the other end of the building. 

"And what do *you* think we should do about it?" Icemon questioned harshly at the monkey-like creature's cowardice. 

"We should get out of here while we can," Sepikmon voiced uncertainly.

"And leave our comrades in there? Let them be arrested by Devitamamon's lackeys? I don't think so, now come with me." 

"Right," Sepikmon said sighing. This was most likely certain death, but if they failed the resistance now he didn't think he could go back to his former life either. 

The two left their hiding place at the sewer entrance and approached the Icemon from behind. This had to be done quickly and without error, to much hang in the balance. 

"They seem to be surrounding that warehouse over there, but why?" Tsukaimon said. The three had positioned themselves behind the Icemon's lines to see what was going on in this part of the city. It must be pretty intense to call upon all these guards and one of the most intense of persons they knew was Ryo. _Could it be possible that he's here? I have to know_, Turuiemon thought. Confidently he strode over to a Starmon, who was obviously in charge of this contingent of guards. Starmon noticed the purple bunny approaching and looked at him suspiciously.

"What do you want here, child. Can't you see we have a situation here?!" Starmon demanded with all the authority he could muster. Normally this worked to get whoever he was speaking to show him respect and, admittedly, also a bit of fear. He wasn't a high ranking officer in the city guard for nothing, you know. He was shocked to see no such reaction in the digimon approaching him; the bunny just smirked at him, seemingly amused. This threw Starmon off guard for a moment so Turuiemon could approach him freely.

"First of, I'm not a child," Turuiemon said easily, an earn of confidence surrounding him that Starmon couldn't muster, "second, I may be of help here with your little situation. Tell me, have you ever heard of a human called 'Ryo'?" 

Immediately all the guards present turned towards Turuiemon, the name of Akiyama Ryo was well known to the guards for being the catalyst of the current turmoil in the city. They eyed the bunny suspiciously, having only slight guesses as to why this digimon would ask them about Ryo. Where they friends, acquaintances or perhaps even enemies? Seeing that the guards attention was now focussed fully on their leader, Tsukaimon and Thundermon moved closer as well to offer any assistance if need be.

"He's a known criminal and instigator of the rebellion. Just knowing him is a capital offence." Starmon said, standing right in front of Turuiemon to intimidate him. It didn't work, Turuiemon just smirked wider finding the Starmon's obvious actions highly amusing. Though, since the Starmon was part of the law here in this city, it wasn't all that wise to piss him of. _Better end this quickly_, Turuiemon thought, _this guy is beginning to bore me anyway. _

"That's what I thought, "he said, "We've been tracing him for a while now in hopes of capturing him."

"You see, we're bounty hunters," Tsukaimon said, looking Starmon in his angered eyes, but the flying digimon didn't budge. This didn't suit Starmon, who wasn't used to such characters, everyone except his bosses always showed fear toward him and the power he had in the guard. 

"We have followed this human's trail of devastation all the way here. You're lucky your city is still standing, one of the places we followed him to was completely destroyed." 

"So you see, we've got quite a stake in this situation if it was indeed caused by Ryo. He has been in this city then, but is he still here now?" Turuiemon asked sternly. 

Starmon, now completely thrown of guard by what was happening, blinked a couple of time trying to sort out everything that was happening. 

"As far as we know he's not here anymore. All that is left is the Resistance which has taken this opportunity when the human stole from Master Devitamamon."

Seeing something happen out of the corner of his eye, Turuiemon tried to look at it but in a way so the Icemon and Starmon wouldn't know that something was going on behind them. Tsukaimon and Thundermon had noticed to but like their leader avoided glancing in that direction. About fifty to seventy meters behind the guards, another group of Icemon was being attacked by two digimon, a Sepikmon and another Icemon. The two had snuck up on the unsuspecting guards and made quite an impact when they struck. Sepikmon was hitting them with his boomerang while doing his Charming Dancing to distract their attention away from the flying boomerang. Meanwhile Icemon was throwing Ice bombs at the other Icemon as well, taking them out effectively. Other groups seemed to realize there was trouble and started going over there as well.

"Hey, what is that all about?" Turuiemon said, pointing at the disturbance. Seemingly as one the guards turned to look at what the bunny was pointing at and as they did so Turuiemon signalled Tsukaimon with a movement of his head. The little digimon fluttered above the guards who were gawking in surprise at the defeat of their colleagues by the two other digimon, so they didn't even notice when Tsukaimon took a deep breath or that Turuiemon and Thundermon had taken a few steps back. The guards, overcoming their surprise, started to move towards Sepikmon and Icemon when Tsukaimon exhaled, spewing a purple fog over all of them. When it cleared, which was after a few seconds, all the guards were knocked out. 

"Nobody stands a chance against my Purple Fog," Tsukaimon said, smirking at the prone bodies of the Starmon and Icemon.

"Sorry guys," Turuiemon said, not feeling remorseful in the least, "but if the resistance is spawned because of Ryo then we are on their side." 

The situation looked grim, they had defeated the first ten guards with ease, but now thirty guards started running at them. In a way, this was also a good thing. The more guards that came after them, the less could go after Sorcerymon and the others.

"We are so dead," Sepikmon said, bracing himself for what was to come. 

"But at least we die in a noble cause," Icemon said with complete honesty. Sepikmon glanced at him for a moment, sizing Icemon up. 

"You are really nuts you know that?" Sepikmon said. 

"Maybe, but you're doing the same thing I am, so who is the crazy one now?" Icemon said jokingly, which surprised Sepikmon even more then his compatriot's desire for an honourable death. As long as he had known the ex-guard, which was about a day to be honest, he had never heard a joke out of his mouth before. _Maybe he said it because he knows we're losing_, Sepikmon thought, then the first guards were on top of them. 

The Icemon guards didn't use their Ice bombs this time, instead they punched into them, using their Ice Strike attacks. Sepikmon kept jumping back to avoid the attacks but it was no use, they hit him anyway. Icemon wasn't having much luck against his name-sakes either and was beginning to buckle under the strain they put on him. 

Behind them, at the warehouse itself, a wall exploded outward. Looking through certain gaps between the guards assaulting him, Icemon saw four figures running out of the building. Sorcerymon seemed to notice what was going on and started changing directions when other guards started to run towards them as well. There were just too many, they both knew it, so the white mage had no other choice then to lead his team out to safety. Icemon and Sepikmon were on their own, with no other help in sight. As the continued pummelling rocketed his body and he started to lose conscious he saw a strange sight in the air above him. The sun seemed to be falling down on the guards in front of him, how very strange since the sun still seemed to be in the right place in the sky at the same time.

"Thunderbolt!" Was shouted by a voice above them, then Icemon could vaguely hear a sort of crashing sound and an explosion before the guard's beating finally made him lose consciousness. 

Around the unconscious guard the fight was taking a sudden turn, when three other digimon entered it as well. Thundermon was using his Thunderbolt attack to rain down balls of electrical energy down on the guards. Tsukaimon, who was only at child level and couldn't afford being hit, flew above them using his Purple Fog to put the Icemon to sleep whenever there was an opening. The leader of the group, Turuiemon, took a more direct approach to fighting and simply jumped in the middle of the melee, using the metallic claws on his arms and his fighting skill to beat down the Icemon. Luckily with the escaping Sorcerymon the guards were divided to go after both groups, and most of them were still trying to reach either Sorcerymon's escape route or Icemon and Sepikmon's fight. The Terrific Trio, with their surprise attacks, quickly made short work of the twenty or so guards. Turuiemon looked at the approaching back-up troops then at his friends.

"We have to hurry, Tsukaimon scout ahead into those streets, Thundermon help that Sepikmon up, then help he drag this Icemon with us." Turuiemon ordered. 

"T-thanks for y-your help," Sepikmon said weakly. 

"Let's leave the 'thank you' for later," Thundermon said, helping the injured digimon back to his feet. Sepikmon, who mustered all the strength he could muster, ran with a limp behind the retreating form of Tsukaimon while Thundermon and Turuiemon dragged Icemon with them. Looking behind them they saw that the guards were approaching rapidly and were gaining on them. Not surprising considering the condition of two of them. Putting Icemon on the ground, Thundermon turned back to the guards.

"Thunder Bomber!" He shouted as he charged his body with energy. He then flew right into on of the alley's walls, ricocheting into the wall on the other side just as quickly. With a loud crash the walls started to collapse, blocking the guard's way so they could escape.

"Well done my friend," Turuiemon said, then the both of them continued to carry Icemon away. After about a minute Tsukaimon came back from his scouting with Sepikmon in tow, the little digimon seemed a bit concerned. 

"The coast seems clear for now, but I don't know how it will be further up," Tsukaimon said. 

"We should get out through the sewers, I know an entrance not to far away," Sepikmon said after Tsukaimon was done.

"Take us there," was Turuiemon's reply.

"So you guys are rebels?" Tsukaimon asked when they had all entered the sewers. 

"No, what gave you that idea?" Sepikmon said quickly, a bit too quickly. Tsukaimon gave one of his trademark smirks, something which all three of them had perfected at one time or another. 

"Oh I don't know, that riot up there was a big hint." Tsukaimon said, still smirking. Sepikmon glanced around nervously, wondering how he was supposed to get out of this one. 

"We want to talk to your leader, "Turuiemon said with a huff before Sepikmon could make another excuse, "and don't give me any more bullshit." 

"What? I can't do that!" Sepikmon said, truly surprised at this digimon's blunt statement before realizing his mistake when both Turuiemon and Tsukaimon looked at him, both smirking of course.

"So you are a rebel then," Tsukaimon said, laughing. 

"No use denying it now," Thundermon voiced, annoyed that he had to carry the unconscious Icemon.

"Alright, I'm a rebel. You want to turn me in now?" Sepikmon asked.

"We already knew you were a rebel and could just as easily let the guards take you, "Turuiemon said," Like I said, we want to talk to your leader about something." 

"That's it?" 

"That's it," Tsukaimon said, answering Sepikmon's question. 

"I don't really have a choice here do I?" Sepikmon said. 

"Of course you do," Turuiemon said sarcastically, "either you take us to your leader or you don't. But it's in the best interest for all of us if you take us there. After all, we helped you escape and can be of even more help." 

"But what if Sorcerymon objects?" Sepikmon asked, then realized he made yet another mistake. It must be the stress, he reasoned. Though mentioning Sorcerymon's name wasn't all that big a deal since the entire city already knew.  

"Well if Sorcerymon objects," Thundermon said, trailing off.

"Just tell him I hit you," Tsukaimon added, drawing amused glances from all present. A groan drew their attention to Icemon, who was recovering.

"He should wake up soon," Turuiemon said, "but for now just take us to Sorcerymon."

"Icemon, Sepikmon! Where have you been?" Bearmon asked excitedly when the two rebels entered the lair. During their trip Icemon had regained consciousness and was none to happy to find out Sepikmon had spilled just about everything about the resistance to three questionable strangers and was in the process to take them to Sorcerymon himself. But there wasn't anything he could do about it when he was finally conscious enough and they did risk their data in trying to rescue them.

"We were busy," Icemon said brusquely, not in the mood for anything after their fiasco. It was then that Bearmon noticed the three figures behind the two rebels. 

"Hey who are you!" Bearmon said loudly, alerting the others that something was wrong. Soon all the rebels, Sorcerymon in the lead, were assembled, looking at the three newcomers. 

"We are the ones that saved your friends," Thundermon answered. The others looked at Sepikmon and Icemon waiting for a confirmation. 

"It's true, they took on the guards so we could all escape, "Sepikmon said, immediately followed by Icemon. "They say they want to speak with you Sorcerymon."

"What about?" Sorcerymon asked.

"About the resistance and a certain human acquaintance of ours, a kid named Akiyama Ryo." Turuiemon said. 

"Let's talk, but just you and me," Sorcerymon said, looking at everyone in the hide-out, "and no funny stuff from anyone." 

The leaders or respectively the Resistance and the Terrific Trio left the others and went into another chamber, a lot smaller then the first, so they could have some privacy, leaving the others to mingle. 

"You wanted to speak with me?" Sorcerymon asked Turuiemon when they sat in Sorcerymon's office.

"Yes, about Ryo. You know him right?" Turuiemon asked. Sorcerymon looked at his staff, smiling under his cowl though no one could see it.

"I know him, I owe him a lot." 

"So do we," Turuiemon said, "we've been looking for him for a while now. A while ago we were together at Chida Village, a place far into the east."   
"I've heard of it, "Sorcerymon said, "It's quite a peaceful place."

"Yeah it was," Turuiemon said a bit sadly.

"What do you mean?" 

"It was attacked twice, almost completely levelled. Together with Ryo we protected the village as best as we could. When Ryo had to move on we stayed behind to help and protect, till the village was put to order. Now we've been following him, hoping to be of help again." Turuiemon smirked. "Wherever Ryo goes there is trouble and we don't want to miss out."

"He was here, I take it you've deduced that much. He returned my staff to me, which was stolen by Devitamamon, the ruler of this city. I then helped Ryo escape the city 'cause he stole it back from Devitamamon and the guards were after him. During our escape attempt we used the sewers and I realized how it could be used for a hide-out. Devitamamon's policies have enslaved many digimon, so after I got my staff back I started fighting back. " 

"And what about the others?" Turuiemon asked, "If you don't mind me asking." 

"I don't, "Sorcerymon said lightly, "it's not a secret and I'll gladly tell a friend of Ryo's. If you see him again you can tell him how we are doing." 

"At first I was all alone, intend on helping others as much as I could. It was the day after Ryo had escaped town when I came across Bearmon. He was being harassed by Devitamamon's money collectors. He couldn't afford to live in one of Devitamamon's apartment buildings, so he lived on the streets. That's illegal in this town so they arrested him in order to put him to work somewhere in Devitamamon's slave-run factories. I saved him and was about to leave when the little bear came up to me and asked me why I helped him. I answered that I was fighting to oppose Devitamamon and he declared he wanted to help me. I didn't want to involve a child, but if I left him he would probably be arrested again. 

The next day the two of us were walking through back streets and alleys when we came into a similar situation. Hanumon was protecting Yuki Agumon from Devitamamon's slave catchers, but they were hopelessly outnumbered. We came in and after a tough fight got them out of there. Like Bearmon, they wanted to join us and the basis of the resistance was formed. "

Sorcerymon stopped for a moment and looked at his little band of brothers through the opening that connected the two chambers. They had gone through a lot together already and it seemed they would have to go through a lot more before all is said and done.

"And the other two, the ones that took us here?" Turuiemon asked, he was always interested in knowing as much as he could about possible allies or enemies.

"Well, we got another applicant just the next day, Icemon. He was part of the city guard, but felt uncomfortable with the way things were run here. He was aware of the slave driving and couldn't stand it anymore so he quit. We, or should I say, Hanumon and I, came across him in a bar. He was trying to persuade others to quit the guards but he was ignored. Or so it seemed, 'cause a patrol of the city guard entered the tavern to arrest him."

"Why didn't the guards who were in the bar arrest him right of the bat?" Turuiemon wondered out loud, Sorcerymon gave a small laugh.

"Because then they would have to leave the bar and their drinks."

"Figures," Turuiemon muttered.

"Anyway, Icemon didn't want to be arrested and started to fight back, screaming that he wouldn't be silenced and that real justice will be served. Hanumon and I attacked the guards and helped Icemon escape. He was grateful and after hearing what we were about he wanted to join us as well.

The last to join us is Sepikmon and he is a bit of a strange case. He only signed up with us two days ago. We were going to attack one of Devitamamon's buildings to hit him where it hurts, well, the operation was well under way when Sepikmon showed up saying the guards were coming. When we retreated he told us he'd been watching everything as it went on due to his special boomerang. I don't know exactly why he wanted to join us; frankly he's a bit of a coward and would rather stay here then go out on a mission. Still, he's an excellent scout and, as demonstrated today, comes through in a pinch. "

"Interesting, " Turuiemon said. The troubles in this city were pretty severe. He wondered if he should stay to help or go of finding Ryo. He was still considering this when a strong shockwave rocked the underground hideout.

"What the…" Turuiemon muttered.

It was a pretty good day with barely a cloud in the sky. On the southern part of the east wall an Icemon guard stood staring of into the distance. He should be patrolling the walls but who would want to attack the city anyway? Ever since the fiasco with that human thief, he couldn't quite remember the name, the guards had been made to work more and more. _It's not fair_, he thought and sighed. On the outside of the wall a vast plain of grass with rocky outcroppings lay, as far as the eye could see. While it did look extremely empty and devoid of life, it still gave the Icemon a feeling of serenity. Caught up in reveries about his life, living in general and the surroundings, he didn't immediately notice a black spot on the horizon till it was quite close.

"Heat Viper!" The sky seemed to boom by the intensity of the voice and the beam of energy it heralded. Before Icemon could even begin to wonder what was going on the large beam of green energy crashed into his part of the wall, destroying it and him on contact. The beam continued on and exploded when it impacted with the ground taking a big part of the buildings there with it. The city shook on its foundations, signalling the arrival of a great evil. Chimeramon had come and he would destroy them all.

The sight that greeted them when they reached the surface was horrendous; almost the entire city was engulfed in flames. Flying high above it was a huge, malevolent creature, which seemed to be composed of parts of other digimon. His head looked like Kabuterimon's head, a large grey helmet-like thing with a sharp horn protruding from it. He had red flaming hair, seemingly taken from the cyborg dinosaur, Metal Greymon. His body was that of the dinosaur greymon, orange colored with blue stripes. The creature had four arms, the two upper ones were long black, sleek arms from the demonic Devimon. His lower left arm is the pincher claw of the red insect, Kuwagamon and the right arm the skeletal limb of SkullGreymon. He has the powerful legs of the white wolf, Garurumon and the powerful tail of the armoured rhinoceros, Monochromon. Four wings sprouted from his back, two different pair. The upper pair where beautiful white wings, the wings of the angelic digimon, Angemon. The lower pair where red reptilian wings from Airdramon. Truly, this was a being of nightmares with power almost unequalled in the entire digital world, and it was still only a Perfect level digimon and not at its peak.

"What in blazes is that?" Tsukaimon exclaimed in shock. The compositional digimon seemed to take a deep breath and boomed the name of his attack through the air. The energy of the Heat Viper levelled an entire block of houses and obliterated every digimon present. The Icemon guards were all attacking the beast but they didn't seem to be having much luck.

"We have to stop this beast!" Turuiemon called out and together with his friends rushed of to fight the threat of Chimeramon. Sorcerymon and the resistance watched them disappear through a column of smoke from a nearby burning building. 

"Everybody," Sorcerymon said, turning towards his own comrades, "we have to destroy this evil digimon. He would destroy everyone we've been trying to save from Devitamamon! Follow me!"

Sorcerymon turned towards Chimeramon and he to ran towards the location of the beast, his friends following close behind.

The city was burning beneath him and he took a moment to admire the beauty of this destruction. Chimeramon knew he shouldn't waste time in getting to his destiny, but what meant destiny if you couldn't have some fun on the way. And this was fun, destroying the city and the digimon in it. A lot of white rock digimon had rallied and were currently attacking him, but their charges felt like flea bites. 

"Heat Viper!" He roared, firing his powerful attack from his mouth at a group of those attacking digimon, Icemon he realized they were. But the names of his victims didn't really matter, a lot more would find their death by his hands before it would all be over. As his energy washed over the guards, he basked in the moment of their deaths. 

Looking around him, he saw that most of the city was either destroyed or in the process of being so by the fires. However, one large building stood almost completely intact, ruining the painting of destruction he was making. He smirked, feeling a high power level coming from the building. Obviously it was the home of the master of this city, but not for long. Chimeramon laughed his booming laugh and hovered slowly towards the building, savouring the moment.

"Get me up there!" Turuiemon said to Thundermon. With Chimeramon in the sky he couldn't do anything since he only had physical attacks and couldn't fly himself. Holding on to Thundermon while the ball-like digimon flew up to Chimeramon the purple rabbit only had a few moments to reflect on what he was doing. Most likely he would be destroyed by that beast and even if he didn't die there was almost nothing that he could do. _Still I have to try, he thought, __what else can heroes do? Ugh, I must be insane to do this._

Soon they were flying above Chimeramon, who seemed to ignore them as they posed no real threat to him. Turuiemon swore he would change the beast's ideas. Leaping away from Thundermon, Turuiemon fell towards the exposed back of the synthetic digimon and he prepared his attack. 

"Swift Secret…" he muttered, powering up his strongest attack as he approached. Then, when he was only about a meter removed from his target one of Chimeramon's angelic wings suddenly made a swing at him, knocking him away from evil beast and on a course for the ground below.

"Shit!" Turuiemon exclaimed before he fell out of earshot. Chimeramon laughed, thoroughly amused by all these antics to stop him. 

Out of the corner of his right eye he saw another form rapidly descending upon him, Thundermon with his body charged with electricity in his Thunder Bomber attack. Chimeramon almost laughed again at the futile gesture made by this little Adult digimon, who was still only a child compared to him. Lashing out with his skeletal claw he defused the electricity and knocked Thundermon down towards the earth like his compatriot.

Only one of the Terrific Trio was now left to fight, but Tsukaimon knew he didn't stand a chance. However he couldn't just run away when his friends had shown their courage in attacking that beast, so he couldn't just back out know. Tsukaimon, nervous as hell, flew in front of Chimeramon's face, being watched by the amused demon. The child gulped and took a deep breath.

"Purple Fog!" He shouted and blew a huge purplish fog in Chimeramon's face, intending to send the digimon to sleep. When the mist cleared Chimeramon was still there, smirking at the little digimon.

"Was that supposed to do anything?" He remarked, then lashed out his devimon arm knocking the last of the Terrific Trio away. During this little altercation Chimeramon had succeeded in flying over to the last unharmed building, the large power signal was also still there. 

"Heat Viper!" 

The attack instantly destroyed the left wing of the building, leaving behind smouldering ruins of the once statuesque part of the mansion. Another attack did the same to the right wing, leaving only the centre and the shop intact. The front door opened and a very angry and disgruntled Devitamamon stepped outside. 

"What is the meaning of this?! Why are attacking my city!" He shouted to Chimeramon, fully expecting to see the beast cower in fear for his Ultimate Might. Instead the beast just continued to hover, grinning at the display of Devitamamon.

"Because I can," Chimeramon finally answered.

"What?!"

"Heat Viper!" the attack came so suddenly Devitamamon barely had time to react. Pulling his appendages inside of his shell and closing the holes, he brazed the attack but was thrown back into the remains of his home which was incinerated around him. Now Devitamamon's mansion was completely destroyed, but the egg was still alive.

"Dazzling Eye!" Devitamamon called out when he left the protection of his shell, shooting lasers out of his many eyes. Chimeramon chose that moment however to make a dive, so all the lasers missed. He charged at the egg and when he came close enough he started to use the Ultimate digimon as a punching bag for his four arms. This time the egg couldn't retreat into himself so he had to bare with the attack. After only a few seconds of constant beating Devitamamon fell back and started to lose consciousness. Seeing that his opponent was unable to continue fighting, Chimeramon took off into the air again. Looking back at the form of Devitamamon he fired one more Heat Viper. The smouldering remains of the mansion were blasted away even more and Devitamamon's power signal almost completely died out. 

"There, that's that." Chimeramon boasted. Content with what he had done to the city and slightly bored with encountering so few good opponents he started to fly west again towards his ultimate goal. As he neared the city's western edge however he heard a shout from below. A group of Icemon and several other digimon were together, planning to attack him no doubt. Chimeramon laughed, the sound boomed down to the ground beneath him, he would indulge these fools before moving on.

Yuki Agumon was afraid and he was alone, which was the cause of even more fear. It had all started well enough, aside from the whole attack in general, but now all seemed to go wrong. In all the smoke and fire he had lost sight of the others and now he was all alone walking through ruined streets surrounded by ruins and fire. One building only had a foundation and a few pieces of wall left, but at least it wasn't on fire anymore. In his despair Yuki Agumon sat down against the ruined wall and put his arms on his head. 

"Why is this happening to me?" He muttered. The city, always full of life was now only a shadow of its former self. And though he had hated the place and never really felt at home here, the little dinosaur was still saddened by its destruction. He had always dreamed to one day leave this town behind, to show that he was better than this place. But he didn't want to leave like this, with everyone dead. 

"What should I do?" 

"You should die." Another voice suddenly resounded from close by. With a yelp Yuki Agumon was on his feet again, trying to find the source of the voice. For a moment he feared it was the monster that was attacking the town, but on second thought he knew it couldn't be. This voice sounded evil, but it was unlike that of Chimeramon. 

'W-who are you?" He asked, his voice quavering by fear. The little dinosaur's eyes darted around, but still he had no luck finding the one behind the voice. Too late he realized that if the enemy wasn't around him, then he was most likely above him. With this sinking in he looked up he saw a red demon, covered in strange archaic tattoos leering down at him. The last thing Yuki Agumon saw was the devil's trident piercing his skull. 

"This power is amazing," the demon said, grinning. He then took of to find more victims among the debris.

"He's coming! Prepare yourselves!" Sorcerymon called out to his resistance members and the remains of the city guard they had joined forces with. Icemon had taken it on himself to lead the now leaderless guards in this final strike against the beast.

"Ice Bombs!" Icemon called out to his former colleagues and all Icemon started throwing their bombs of ice at the beast swooping down from the sky. When the creature came low enough the bombs hit him and exploded on contact. The shards of ice that were released had no effect, Chimeramon just kept going. 

"Heat Viper!" Chimeramon shouted. Everyone immediately tried to get away from the incoming blast, but unfortunately Icemon and his guards were unable to get away fast enough.

"Aaaaahhhh!" Icemon shouted before the green fire overtook his position and burned him into a crisp. Of him and the guards nothing remained after the blast dissipated. The survivors, who at this point were only the remaining Resistance members, looked in shock but Chimeramon wasn't quite done yet. Having fired his attack when he was still swooping down, he was now close to the ground and to Sepikmon. The shaman digimon had no chance to escape the red pincher claw as it grabbed him and lifted him of the ground. Chimeramon and his prey ascended a few meters, and then he turned towards Sorcerymon, Bearmon and Hanumon. 

"Argh," Sepikmon managed to say, being in the vice grip of Chimeramon was slowly killing him. The others looked on in horror, knowing they could do nothing to help Sepikmon now, the shaman was in the beast's mercy. And from what they had seen so far Chimeramon had none. For a moment the claws loosened, giving Sepikmon a small tingle of hope that he might still survive this encounter. That hope was shattered however when he heard Chimeramon's sadistic chuckle. All of a sudden the pincer snapped shut completely, severing Sepikmon in two. Everyone gasped as the saw both pieces fall away for a few seconds before bursting apart into small data fragment which were quickly blown away by the wind created by Chimeramon's four wings.

"How could you, you Monster!" Hanumon shouted angrily.

"Flattery will get you nowhere, little ape," Chimeramon quipped back, "well it's been fun, but I really must be going now. So much to destroy, so little time. Heat Viper!"

"Barrier!" Sorcerymon shouted, raising his staff above his head. Chimeramon didn't take the time to see the effects of his last attack, he was already annoyed with this scene of destruction. It kept him away from his destiny long enough. 

Chimeramon had left, but that didn't make the city anymore safe then when the beast was still there. Many buildings were destroyed and what was left could collapse at any moment. Tama City was lost, but that didn't sadden Devitamamon much. All he cared about was that he had lost all of his possessions when the monstrous beast levelled his home, not even his high security vault had survived. To make matters worse, he still lay on his back unable to move. Chimeramon had managed to beat him to an inch of his death, but he was still alive at least. Slowly and painfully he tried to move his appendages, but gave up when a searing pain flared up and coursed through his body. _I'd better lay here and rest for a while longer_, he thought angrily. 

As he lay there a shadow suddenly fell over him and he opened his eyes to see what it was. It was a digimon, but one he had never seen before. The digimon was taller then he was, with a flaming red skin, almost scaly. Strange archaic symbols were tattooed on his muscled body. He had a strangely forked tail, red bat-like wings and demonic horns on his face. The sadistic grin wasn't to comforting either, nor was the trident he kept in his hand. 

"Who are you?" Devitamamon hissed. The digimon made a mocked look of disappointment. 

"Why boss, don't you recognize me anymore? Your chief supplier?" He said.

"Pico Devimon?" Devitamamon questioned," but how…oh no it was you!" The egg said, realizing that Pico Devimon had been helping Ryo break into his house about a week ago and that it was he, and not Ryo, who had stolen the Black Items. 

"You fool, you've actually used them?! Pico Devimon what have you done! There's a reason I never used them to increase my own power." the egg could barely believe it. Pico Devimon had used the cursed items to force his evolution, but the nature of the devices he used was that of pure evil and control. Though they can boast one's energy they also make the recipient completely loyal to the master of the items. With Pico Devimon as master they would make him a slave to his own darkness, fuel the desire to destroy and rule. In short, it quite possibly might have created a new Dark Master. Though it didn't sadden Devitamamon in the slightest, the old Pico Devimon was lost forever. 

"You just wanted to have them in your collection, that's all," he said, brushing away the egg's warnings, "and I'm no longer Pico Devimon. You can call me Boogeymon. At least for the few seconds of life you have left." 

"W-what…" Devitamamon couldn't finish his sentence as Boogeymon's trident lashed out at him. The tree spikes had been driven through the demon's head and into his shelled body. Weakened by the fight with Chimeramon the egg could do nothing as his body collapsed into small fragments of data.

"And so ends the not-so-glorious rule of Devitamamon," Boogeymon said, "such a pity! Ha!" 

"Hey what is the meaning of this!" a voice behind Boogeymon demanded. Boogeymon smiled to himself, yet another one to fall against him. He turned around slowly and saw there were in fact three digimon behind him, two of them seemed to be of his level. They had been in a fight, he could easily tell by their appearances, but they still had a lot of fight in them left. A white wizard, a yellow monkey and a grey teddybear stood only a few meters away. 

"Not that we mind getting rid of Devitamamon," Hanumon said, "but we were kinda planning on getting rid of him ourselves and alive at that." 

"Dead, alive, makes no difference to me." Boogeymon said coolly. He then eyed Bearmon, making the little child very uncomfortable under the sudden attention.

"You remind me of that other baby I killed," he said. 

"What?!" Sorcerymon demanded, standing protectively in front of Bearmon. He had a gut feeling that Boogeymon was talking about Yuki Agumon, though he had no proof to back up his suspicions. 

"Yes, that little white dinosaur." Boogeymon said, noticing the looks of shock on the faces of the three digimon. 

"Oh? Did you know him?" he smirked. 

"Y-you bastard!" Bearmon shouted and started running towards Boogeymon. 

"Yes quite," Boogeymon replied, not at all impressed by the little child's efforts, "Ruby Eye!" 

A crimson beam shot out of the demon's eyes and knocked the poor Bearmon back towards the other rebels. Seeing their comrade treated this way and wanting vengeance for what had happened to Yuki Agumon they attacked as well. 

"Bone Rod!" Hanumon shouted, throwing his bone at Boogeymon like a boomerang.

"Crystal Cloud," Sorcerymon called out, firing his own attack at the red devil. Flapping his wings Boogeymon took to the sky, evading the incoming attacks. 

"You think that's enough to stop me!" He shouted to the three digimon on the ground, "well, guess again! Death Cra…"

"Evil Banishment!" Sorcerymon shouted before the demon could finish his attack. A slight flash of white light emanated from Sorcerymon's staff before Boogeymon suddenly shouted out in pain, grasping his chest. Sorcerymon's spell was reacting with the Dark Items inside his body, trying to destroy them completely. Boogeymon knew he had to get away as soon as possible and with one more hate-filled glare he took of to the south. Leaving behind the ruins of Tama City and the remaining rebels, he vowed to get back at them and the entire digital world. 

"No he's getting away!" Bearmon said.

"Leave him, we have more important things to do," Sorcerymon said solemnly, looking at the ruins around them, "like taking care of the survivors. Our vengeance will have to wait for now." 

Slowly the surviving digimon started to gather at the site of the ruins of Devitamamon's former mansion. Out of the several hundred digimon that had lived cramped in the city only a meagre twenty had survived. Though everyone was saddened by the deaths that had occurred that day, there was also a feeling of happiness; they were finally free of Devitamamon's reign. 

Far to the west at the end of the day four figures reached a hilltop overlooking Machine City, the home of the machine tyrant Mugen Dramon. The city spread out further then the eye could see, at least from where they were standing. It was a collection of different style of buildings, from tall skyscrapers to smaller houses. There were barely any colours to be discerned from the buildings, all seemed to be a dull concrete grey. On closer inspection, not all the buildings were standing as they should. Some stood at odd angles, others had toppled over completely and more were just damaged in some other way. Large holes in the structures were seen even from the distance and none of the windows seemed to have glass in them. It was a veritable ghost town. 

"We made it!" Ken said enthusiastically, "now we can beat Mugen Dramon!" 

"Well, not exactly now Ken," Ryo said calmly. 

"Huh? Why not?" Ken asked, in his eagerness he overlooked the obvious. 

"Because we aren't in the city yet and the sun is already setting. We'll never find Mugen Dramon in the dark and besides that we've been walking all day. The digimon will need to be at their best to take on the machine dragon so we'll have to take a rest first." 

"Oh right," Ken said, a bit embarrassed he didn't think about that. He wanted to show Ryo that he could be as good as the older boy, but he always seemed to forget something in his eagerness. 

"Let's go then," V-mon said, "we can stay in one of the houses at the edge of the city. We don't know the situation in there so venturing in to far isn't a good idea." 

"And if we take a house at the edge instead of further in the city we have to walk less," Wormmon said slyly. 

"That to," V-mon said unabashed.

Not wanting to waste anymore time the four of them quickly proceeded down the hill to find a place to rest inside one of the strangely ruined buildings of the city.

On another hilltop, this one strangely located inside the city, a lone figure looked in the direction where Ryo and the others were. He smiled, though his face couldn't be seen in the black hood and cape he wore. A slight buzzing sound drew his attention away from the Chosen and he looked to the side, seeing a red dragonfly-like digimon land. 

"Flybeemon, " the cloaked man said. 

"Master, buzz, I've brought another one with me," Flybeemon said, holding up his claw and the child digimon he carried in it, a Patamon. 

"Good, put it with the others," the figure ordered, motioning to all the cages standing on the hilltop. The cages were small, barely large enough to house some of the child level digimon. Flybeemon went to the last unoccupied one and tossed the unconscious patamon inside, locking him up. The dragonfly looked at all the digimon, they were scared and depressed, but some still had the desperate courage to be obstinate, glaring at him with hate and anger in their eyes. It didn't matter how they felt to Flybeemon, after he had caught them he had lost all interest in his former prey. However it did matter to the cloaked figure that had created Flybeemon and had set him on his hunt. Their anger would make a perfect feeding ground for the Digimental of Darkness making them more powerful as a result and power was something that always interested him. Speaking of power, he turned towards the east peering towards the horizon and the being he knew was approaching. _He will arrive here some time tomorrow_, he thought, _then_ things will really get interesting_. _

Looking at the little device in his hand for a moment, he looked at the part of town Ryo currently was. 

"Sleep well Akiyama," he said coldly, "it's going to be a busy day tomorrow." 

Authors Notes:

Well it took me long enough to finish this chapter, didn't I? Sorry about that, but I've been really busy these last couple of weeks and it doesn't seem to be getting any less soon. I'll try to get the next chapter out soon, though I can't really say when. 

This chapter was a bit of an interlude, allowing me to tie up a few loss ends and to create a few new ones. The most important thing I wanted to do in this chapter was to introduce Chimeramon and send him on his way to Mugen Dramon. 

A smaller part was for Pico Devimon and the items he stole (Black gear and Dark Network cables) which I didn't really go into much last time. Pico Devimon, or Boogeymon as he is called now, won't return in this story again, but he is going to star in another fic I'm planning to write when I've got more time. This fic will feature another team of Chosen who haven't been given much spotlight and they will have to fight against him on their first visit to the digital world. That's all I'm going to say about that for now, since it will more then likely take a long while before I can start writing it. After all, Legendary Tamer is my top priority story and I have barely enough time to work on that as it is.

Translations:

Hanumon = Apemon.

Yuki Agumon = Snow Agumon

Preview of the next Chapter:

Ryo and Ken are scouring Machine City for Mugen Dramon's hide out, but time is running out. With Chimeramon coming closer and the Master who's up to his old tricks again, things don't look good.


	13. The red hunter

Disclaimer: I do not own digimon, nor am I trying to make any money with this story.

Chapter 12: The red hunter.

Ryo's log: August 2000, Machine City, Server Continent.

Just last night we finally reached Machine City, home of Mugen Dramon. We took residence in one of the abandoned homes at the edge of town. Though we all knew that we might just not survive the next day sleep seemed to come rather easily. I attribute it to the long march we had that day, otherwise I might not have closed my eyes all night. 

Today we're going to find the cyborg digimon and take him out or die trying. Without him the prophecies of doom can't be fulfilled and both worlds will be safe. But first it's time to make some breakfast and wake Ken up.

End log

Dawn came quickly to Machine City, the darkness slowly giving way for the light. Though it was now day again, the city seemed to look even worse now then it did in the dark. At least at night you couldn't see the devastation that at one point had ravaged the place. When the Dark Masters reshaped the digital world into Spiral Mountain, each element had been put together. In the case of Machine City it had meant that every last bit of digiworld that was a town, a city or even just a lonely house, had been put together. In an ironic twist of fate some of the buildings added were digital copies of buildings from the real world. When the digital world reformatted into Spiral Mountain and appeared into the skies of the real world, information and specifically that of technology and architecture, had somehow found its way into the reformatted digiworld. 

After the Chosen had beaten the Dark Masters; Pinocchimon, Metal Seadramon, Mugen Dramon and Piemon, the digiworld re-stabilized itself and became its original form again. However, the data which was added into the digital soup as it reformed itself into Spiral Mountain remained. The data which was technology and architecture is all that remains of the original Mugen Dramon's Machine City. In this place the presence of the Dark Masters can at times still be felt, so heavy was the stamp they put on the world. The sky above the city is always filled with dark clouds and sunlight has never hit the city directly. For virals, former willing servants of the Dark Masters and digimon who generally want to be left alone this is the perfect place to hide. But today the status quo of this place will be broken, today will see events that will change the face of both Digiworld and Earth alike. The cloaked figure of the Master smiled evilly under his hood, his face concealed from the rest of the world. The time to show his true nature wasn't there yet, but like Chimeramon his time was also quickly approaching. 

Close to him on the hilltop his minion, the dragonfly warrior Flybeemon, was awakening from his slumber. From the moment consciousness returned to him he moved over to his master. 

"My lord," he said, the odd buzz he used in his sentences was notably missing now that he was speaking with his master. It pleased him to see his minion show proper respect to him, though in hindsight he knew the bug didn't really have a choice in the matter. 

"I am ready to go on the hunt again."

"Of course you are," the Master confirmed calmly, showing no emotion in his speech whatsoever, "but today the hunt is going to be a bit different. You see, Akiyama has finally reached the city yesterday, but it seems he's not alone. The boy who's with him, Ichijouji Ken, isn't needed in the grand scheme of things. Hunt them down, separate them and then take out that boy."

"Yes master," Flybeemon said before taking off into the clouded sky.

"I hope you've slept well Ryo," the cloaked figure said softly, "you're going to need all your strength today. Let's see if you are truly as worthy as is claimed of you." 

"Rise and shine Ken," Ryo said, standing over the sleeping form of the young boy. Yesterday they had been able to find a small house which was still relatively intact and unoccupied. There was one room which still had a bed, so Ryo had told Ken to use it. Of course Ken had objected, he didn't want any special treatment, so he had stubbornly refused to go to sleep in the bed. When Ken had finally dozed of against a wall, Ryo had picked him up and put him and Wormmon in the bed. Ken had remained fast asleep, with his digimon held tightly in his arms the whole time. The boy looked so peaceful like that and Ryo wished he could let him stay that way for a bit longer, but time was running out and they had to get moving. 

"Is it morning already?" Ken asked sleepily, letting go of the bug digimon to rub his eyes. 

"Yes, it is. We have a big day ahead of us." Ryo answered. Stepping out of the room he left Ken and Wormmon alone to fully wake up and get ready. With the older chosen gone, Ken stared at the door for a few moments. He knew that today would be very important, likely the most important one of their stay in the digital world. Excitement started to banish the sleepiness out of his systems, but it couldn't drive away the feeling of foreboding that crept into his mind. Today would be the most important day, but also the most dangerous. 

"Do you think we can do it, Wormmon?" Ken asked hesitantly. 

"Of course we can," Wormmon said with a confidence he didn't really feel. Like Ken he knew full well the dangers they would face today would be nothing like those they'd faced before. They'd probably need a miracle to kill Mugen Dramon with only an adult and a child digimon. He couldn't tell Ken that of course, for his young charge he needed to be strong and unwavering. 

"Yeah, we have Ryo after all," Ken said with a large smile, showing just a bit of hero worship towards the older Chosen. 

In the living room of the small house V-mon was taking care of some other business. The blue lizard was in the process of sorting out everyone's breakfast. Luckily they had been able to save some berries and fruits from the day before, otherwise they wouldn't have anything to eat. Having woken up Ken, Ryo reentered the living room and sat down at the table which, like the bed, had miraculously survived whatever had happened in this city. Looking at what was left of their food supply Ryo frowned, _it's_ _barely enough for this morning, we'll need to find more really soon_.  

"I know," V-mon said at the sight of Ryo's expression, "there's nothing left after this. Fortunately or unfortunately food will be the least of our concerns this day. It might even be our last, knowing what kind of firepower an Ultimate like Mugen Dramon can dish out."

"I know, and we don't even have the complete Golden Digimental. I don't know if the pieces we have will be of any use, but taking a realistic standpoint its one Ultimate against a child and an adult. Not really my kind of odds."

"Maybe I'll evolve again, or the kid's virus will. Who knows what will happen?" V-mon said, trying to lighten the mood a little, "and if we can't beat them by force we'll just have to outsmart him."

"Did I just hear you see we need to use our brains?" Ryo joked. 

"Well you use your brain and I'll let my stomach do the thinking for me," V-mon replied lightly while eyeing Ken and Wormmon's shares. While the two had talked they had eaten their breakfast but it was hopelessly inadequate. _It's not like Wormmon has to do all the fighting later, V-mon reasoned, _I have to do all the work and be strong enough to do it. __

"Don't even think it," Ryo said suddenly, destroying V-mon's train of thought. At that time Ken and Wormmon entered the room and sat down at the same table.     

"This is all we have?" Wormmon asked.

"Unfortunately it is," Ryo answered.

"Then you should have my share Ken, " Wormmon said, wanting Ken to have a decent breakfast. Too many times had he noticed that the young boy had been putting back some of his food into their small supply. 

"No Wormmon, we may need to fight and then you'll need all your strength, "said Ken, knowing what his digimon was trying to do, "so you should have my share."

"You will both eat your own share," said Ryo. Both of them started to form a protest but he wouldn't let them, "Now!"  

"Yes Ryo," both Ken and Wormmon answered meekly.

"Ken, weakening yourself by not eating and letting us have it will not help us in the end. Part of Wormmon's power comes from you, if you weaken he will weaken. And how about the rest of us, do you think it would help us if you were too weak to even stand?"

"I-I hadn't thought of that," Ken said meekly.

"I know," Ryo said soothingly, "but now you do. You have to stop giving away your food. We care about you, don't forget that, so just take care of yourself. And Wormmon, you have to provide the rest of your power so you can't weaken yourself by not eating either."

"I know," Wormmon replied. 

"And now both of you eat, we've got to get going," V-mon said brusquely, he hated seeing good food go to waste like that. _It should have gone into my stomach_, he thought. Ken and Wormmon looked unsurely at each other, then at Ryo and finally back to V-mon.

"V-mon," Ryo said exasperated, making V-mon realize that he had been looking at the food a tad to intensely.  

Soon after breakfast the quartet left the house, not bothering with closing the door on their way out. Both Ryo and V-mon had silently agreed not to let the younger members of the group know just how slim their chances of success or even survival were. Now outside in the daylight, though that didn't say much with the continuous cloud coverage in the air, they got their first real good look of the city from the inside. The streets alternated from being paved stones to asphalt as they went from street to street. No pattern could be detected in the switching, it just happened. The buildings, though most resembled those of any big city, like Tokyo or New York, didn't seem to fit together very well. No pattern to their placement could be found in them either. All everything had truly in common was the signs of damage and neglect. As they looked about them they noticed something else, they were seemingly the only ones there. On the one hand it could mean that they had no opposition till they reached Mugen Dramon or maybe they lay in ambush. Another thing that begged consideration was that with no other digimon in sight they wouldn't be able to ask directions either.

The two Chosen and their digimon had no idea where Mugen Dramon was hiding and this fact was worsened as they took into account how large the city was. The dragon could be hidden anywhere in the place, making it almost like finding a needle in a haystack. Finding him could take days and Ryo had a sinking suspicion they didn't have that much time left. _Why do I feel like Chimeramon is approaching? He wondered, but quickly wrote it off as simple anxiety. After all, why would he be able to feel Chimeramon? Besides, they had another problem aside from a powerful enemy, the lack of food. Ryo doubted that anything edible could be found in these accursed ruins, which meant they couldn't stay inside for to long. He put the thought about food aside for now and just focused on finding their target for now. _

The scenery still looked the same, even after they had wandered through countless streets; the buildings around them seemed empty, grey and broken down. A partially collapsed skyscraper stood on their left, the foundation had partially collapsed so the building was slightly tilting over the street, a smaller barrack stood on their right, flanked by other small houses. The entire city seemed most depressing but it did make a pretty good hide-out all in all. 

Unbeknownst by the four of them was that they were being watched from above. High in the sky was a dragonfly-like digimon, observing their every move. Flybeemon had thought up just the thing he needed to do to effectively separate the two humans so he could kill the younger one. The only one really posing a threat to him was the blue lizard, if he was given the opportunity to evolve he would become quite a problem. 

"Buzz, prepare yourselves infidels," Flybeemon said, knowing he was too high for them to hear him and ruin the surprise, "I'm coming for your miserable lives." 

Letting himself fall he swooped down on his unsuspecting victims. The four had moved themselves into the perfect formation as far as the dragonfly was concerned. Ken and Wormmon were walking in front, with Ryo and V-mon a couple of meters behind them, keeping a close eye on the younger members of their team. The red hunter flew quickly towards the tall building on the Chosen's left. He knew that it was already weakened severely and that if he could destroy a large enough piece of the street side wall then the top of the structure would fall down to the street beneath it. Strafing the building he aimed his claws at the dark grey wall, a feeling of excitement was building up inside of him. This would be the best hunt ever, the crowning achievement of his life, the hunting of the Chosen themselves. 

"Fly Spark!" The dragonfly called out, firing volatile energy blasts from his claws at the building while strafing it. The blasts tore through the wall and exploded on the inside, completely destroying the weak stability of the ruined building. The top part, above the line of fire from Flybeemon, was already starting to collapse down towards the street below. However the red hunter digimon wasn't going to wait for that to happen if he wanted his plan to succeed. Sure of his success he dived down towards the ground and his targets. 

Meanwhile Flybeemon's actions hadn't remained unnoticed by Ryo and the others, they heard the explosions and looked up only to see a red blur descending down upon them. The dragonfly came to an abrupt stop a meter above the ground, splitting up the group in two parts. With a few quick sweeps of his spiked tail he drove the brown haired boy and the blue lizard back a few steps. Before V-mon could even react to this sudden threat a swirl of energy formed around the red digimon's claw and he flung another one of energy blast. This time he shot it right at their feet, making the ground explode which threw the two warriors back a few meters. Turning around in the air Flybeemon faced a scared Ken and Wormmon, hissing at them and swinging his tail menacingly as he made clear his objectives. The boy and his digimon backed up, but with a quick move the red digimon was right in front of them, staring the boy in his face, their heads only inches apart. Ken gulped, seeing no mercy in the digimon's eyes. 

"Run Ken!" Ryo shouted, getting up from where the blast had thrown him. He had to help his friend and was about to dash forward when a loud rumble diverted his attention from the fight and up in the air. His eyes widened in shock as he saw a huge piece of the skyscraper falling down at them. At that moment he knew he'd never be able to reach Ken before he was crushed by the falling debris. He had no choice but to run out of the destruction's path, which unfortunately lay away from where he wanted to be. Ken to had noticed the debris falling and with Flybeemon goading them on he ran away from Ryo and V-mon. 

The stones crashed onto the street loudly throwing up a dust cloud as all the pieces hit the earth. When the dust settled Ryo could see that the street was now completely blocked off by five meters of rubble. Worse yet, he was now cut of from Ken and Wormmon while they needed his and V-mon's help the most. They were trapped on the other side with a bloodthirsty digimon who seemed to have every intention of killing the young boy.   

"Buzz, I've got you now," Flybeemon said, floating in front of the debris separating them from Ryo and V-mon.

"What do you want with us?!" Ken shouted back to him obstinately. For the two weeks he had been in the digital world he had come face to face with many digimon trying to hurt him. Though he was frightened he resolved himself not to show it, to face up to this digimon bravely even if it was going to kill him. _It's what Ryo would do, he thought, wanting to make his friend proud of him._

"I want to kill you," Flybeemon stated simply," buzz, but first we're going to play a little game in which I'm going to hunt you and you are going to die." 

"Hunt us? What do you mean?" Wormmon asked. 

"Exactly what I said, now start running," Flybeemon hissed menacingly, charging up his claws and swiping around with his tail. Emphasizing the last word he glared at the prey in front of him and if looks could kill then Ken and Wormmon's troubles would have been over. 

Not hesitating for another moment the two turned tail and ran, though it didn't go that fast. Wormmon wasn't even build for running so he had to hop as quickly as he could to keep up with Ken. The boy's speed wasn't that high either, since he was still young and had short legs. This did allow for the caterpillar digimon to keep up with him though. Watching his two targets run, Flybeemon sighed and slightly shook his head, this didn't seem like much of a hunt at this speed. Bringing up one of his claws he shot one of his energy blasts at Ken, calling out the name of his attack as he did so, "Fly Spark!" 

The blast didn't hit the boy but the street close behind him, driving him on in his flight. _This is going to be one of those days,_ Flybeemon thought dejectedly, seeing his spectacular hunt going to waste. _Even those stupid child digimon were more of a challenge then this. Oh well, maybe they'll surprise me, they are Chosen after all._

While he was contemplating the progress of his hunt, Ken and Wormmon had managed to get a little distance of several meters between them and the red dragonfly. 

"Ken, we can't win like this," Wormmon said. 

"Then we cheat!" Ken replied, suddenly dashing to his right and through the door of a partially collapsed building. Wormmon blinked at his partner's sudden action and then quickly followed him in. 

"Buzz, that's not fair!" Flybeemon cried out, though he smirked under his facemask. Instead of being completely driven by fear, the young boy had used his mind to make an escape. Flybeemon felt a slight admiration towards the young Chosen, but that wouldn't stop him from taking the boy out.

Within moments the red dragonfly had soared over to the building his prey had escaped in and pointed his claws at it. Sparkling with energy the digimon's intention were all to clear for any who could see him, but no one was. 

"Fly Spark!" 

The hunter's energy blasts scorched the air as they raced towards the building, crashing into it, straight through the first wall and exploding the walls behind it. He didn't stop there but continued firing till he had leveled the entire building. The ground floor gave way easily under the barrage of fire. With the foundation destroyed there was nothing that could keep the two floors above it in place and with a thunderous crash the rest of the building collapsed. Moving out of the way of the falling debris Flybeemon observed his handy work with pride, he so did love causing destruction. While taking careful notice of the scene he noticed the building hadn't been very wide and more importantly, there was an alley way behind it, most likely the boy and the worm had gotten out through the back and into the alley before he leveled the place. Flapping his insect wings he flew over the ruins and looked inside the alleyway, but there was no one there. 

"He escaped through another building," Flybeemon surmised, "I guess the hunt is still on." 

At the hilltop the dark cloaked figure, known only as "The Master", watched a little egg-shaped device in his hands with interest. Two dots that had remained together for so long were now separating. 

"Looks like that bug is doing what he's supposed to," he said to no one in particular, though his voice obviously scared the captive children around him, he paid it no heed. The dots separated even more, one of them remained stationary while the other moved away. Flybeemon had succeeded in separating the two Chosen and now the young boy was without his protector. Ken's death would work miracles on Ryo, of that he was sure. The master grinned under his hood, looking at the two dots, waiting for one of them to extinguish. 

When after a few minutes Ken's dot was still there he sighed, accepting the fact that Flybeemon was failing him. 

"That idiot and his desires for hunting, I told him to finish it off quickly but I guess that's just the trouble with minions these days." 

Looking at his device in annoyance he pressed a few buttons and saw the display changing somewhat, the dots now had a yellow square surrounding them. 

"Try and find your little boy now Akiyama," He grinned triumphantly, looking over to his captives. Although his face was hidden under his hood they still cowered from the look he gave them. They knew he was evil and that he had nothing good in mind for them, which only made their fear worse as they had no idea what was going to happen to them. The master savored their fear, heightening his triumph. If Flybeemon failed there were still plenty of others to take his place.

"Damn it, damn it to hell!" Ryo shouted, anger taking over his mind at his own inability to help his friend. He couldn't get past the past the barrier of broken stone and rubble, he couldn't get over it and according to V-mon he couldn't get through it. Well, at least not within a reasonable amount of time, so they had no other choice then to find another way of reaching Ken. Taking forth his digivice Ryo quickly set it to tracking mode and found the familiar dot of Ken's digivice on the move. _Good he's still alive and hopefully well_, he thought with relieve. Unfortunately that might not last long, that red dragonfly digimon had shown some great moves by separating them so easily. 

"Ryo, over here!" V-mon called out from the opening of a nearby building. Quickly he spurted over to his partner's location. Looking over the small form of the blue lizard digimon he discerned quickly what had gotten V-mon's attention. The walls in this building were very brittle and already had a few holes in them. With these holes they could get into the structure next door and maybe beyond the barrier. At once Ryo fully entered the building and went over to the wall. Bringing back his fist he rammed it straight into the wall, making V-mon wince as he did so. Ryo didn't care about pain, not while his friend was in life threatening danger. His fist punctured the wall, showing just how decayed it had become.   

"Ryo what are you doing!" V-mon shouted, standing at the boy's side within moments. He looked at Ryo's hand, it looked bruised and a bit bloodied where the skin had torn, but looked fine otherwise. 

"I'm trying to get through," Ryo said through gritted teeth, "what does it look like?" 

"Like you want to beat yourself up," V-mon answered easily, earning a scorning look from Ryo, "well it's true! If you want to go through the wall you should let me do it!" 

With that V-mon took a step back and then barged through the wall with his head butt attack. Not only the piece of wall the lizard went though was destroyed, but larger pieces followed through creating a bit of a dust cloud. Ryo had to take a step back not to get in contact with it, but he was still coughing from the dust that did reach him. 

"See?" V-mon said from the other side and Ryo nodded once before following. Cradling his sore hand, already regretting punching a wall, he saw that this buildings exit was blocked by the debris. What was he thinking? _I really have to work on some anger management, he thought, a bit of humor returning in his mind. But he knew that with Ken in danger he would always act rash and uncontrolled, he owed it to the kid to keep him safe. _

Taking out his digivice again he looked at the display to see Ken's dot moving away from them. 

"Okay we have to…" Ryo started saying but trailed off at the sight of the digivice's display. The clear screen with the red dots was suddenly dissolved into static. All the young Chosen could do was staring at it in surprise, before he started pressing buttons to change the digivice's modes. The others, like the status screen for V-mon, all worked fine but the tracking option was malfunctioning. 

"Oh oh," he muttered.

Alleys, endless alleys, going left once, right twice then left again. He didn't know how long they were running anymore, it seemed like days. In reality it was closer to one hour, but who was counting? The streets were dark, cracked and at times wet. He was getting tired, but he couldn't stop running for fear of getting caught. The assailant, while invisible to them for most of the time, was always following them. Panic threatened to overwhelm him at every turn, but Ken forced it down whenever it started to get too much. He needed to think clearly if they were to escape from Flybeemon, especially without Ryo to back them up. 

"Buzz, where are you? You can run but you can't hide." The loud voice of the hunter echoed over the tops of the building, trying to intimidate them. Instantly Ken grabbed Wormmon and carried him through an open doorway into what used to be a restaurant. They had entered it through the back entrance and were now standing in the kitchen. It reminded him of Digitamamon's kitchen only a lot bigger and a lot more damaged. Large metal freezers and other devices lined the walls, the floor turned into aisle by metal sinks and other equipment. Most of it was rusty and dented, the walls partially collapsed, it wouldn't be used as the kitchen of a restaurant any time soon, but it would serve as a temporary hide out. 

Ken sat down against a cold wall, Wormmon scooted over and sat in the boy's lap. The young Chosen sighed, looking at his digivice and the static on the display. It had happened pretty soon after he had ducked into the alleys of this city to escape from Flybeemon. Without the tracking ability there was no chance of finding Ryo again and worse still, if his wasn't working then he wouldn't be able to find them either. 

"We're on our own Wormmon," he said, his voice barely a whisper. This was the first moment they had to speak to each other in an hour, since the hunt began. 

"It doesn't matter Ken, we'll make it," Wormmon said confidently. 

"How do you know that?" Ken asked.

"Because we made it this far, you got us this far." Wormmon said. At the words of his friend, Ken thought back to what he had done during this little hunt. Escaping into the alleys proved to be a good idea in hindsight, Flybeemon was unable to discover them right away and they'd moved through other buildings and passage ways to get as far away from the bug as possible. He still tracked them and located them of course, but he couldn't catch them. It had seemed that they had bought enough time to get back to Ryo before Flybeemon would be upon them once more. 

Ken sighed at the recollection; things didn't turn out that way. For some reason the tracking option of his digivice wasn't working so they had no idea where Ryo was. To make matters worse the dragonfly found them while he was staring in shock at his digivice, they'd only barely gotten away again. The next hour was filled with running, dodging, hiding and then running again, a seemingly never ending cycle.     

Ken was just about to reply to Wormmon when an ominous sound could be heard from outside the wrecked restaurant. The both of them froze instantly, knowing it could only be one thing.

"Fly Spark!" They heard the red dragonfly cackle right before the walls of the restaurant exploded inward. With rapid fire he easily started to destroy the restaurant to get them, but Ken wasn't going to make it that easily for the evil digimon. 

Darting to their feet again, they shot back out through the door and once again ran through the city. By this time they had left any alley behind and were running along a large street, with almost no cover at all. As Ken looked about while they were running he noticed that the scene, though everything was partially destroyed, looked almost like home. To his left stood a tall apartment complex, just like the one he lived in back on Earth. Other buildings surrounding the street also helped create the impression of home, though the damage made it look a bit surreal. The image was ruined further by the unusual tilt most of the buildings had and the distance between them, they were all too close to be a real earth city. It was fascinating to see strange things like this in the digital world, but unfortunately for Ken he had no time to consider it fully.

Feeling their doom creeping ever closer Ken risked taking a glance over his shoulder. Sure enough in the air above them was Flybeemon, flying at them triumphantly, his claws already charged up with energy. Fear filled Ken, there was no place to hide now from this demon, they were going to die here. He wouldn't see Ryo and V-mon again, nor would he be able to help the older boy in his mission. A sudden stubborn resolve filled Ken just then and he stopped running away, turning fully towards Flybeemon. Wormmon, noticing that Ken had stopped running, stopped as well. 

Ken glared angrily at the approaching form of Flybeemon, he had enough of running away. Ryo wouldn't run, he would face anyone that threatened him. He was even willing to go and do battle with an Ultimate digimon to save the world and here he was running away from a mere adult digimon. Ryo was definitely the bravest person he knew and he admired the older boy for it. Ken had praised his brother Osamu because his brother was so smart even if he at times treated him badly. Ryo never treated him badly and was always trying to protect him. _I want to be more like Ryo, he thought, __and that means facing this digimon. Maybe then I'll be able to find Ryo back._

"Buzz, you should have kept running boy. You realize you're going to die here right," Flybeemon grinned evilly under his face mask. Landing in front of the two young ones he looked at them with eyes full of malice. 

"No," Ken said simply, throwing the red hunter of guard.

"No? What do you mean no?" Flybeemon said in surprise, the boy could no longer run away, nor was he or the worm in any condition to be able to defeat him. "You can't defeat me, you stupid human. You're going to die here, for the Master!" 

"No," Ken said calmly, repeating his earlier statement, "I'm not going to die here, but if you don't go away then you are." 

"What! You and what army!" Flybeemon shrieked, not noticing that Wormmon was using this little distraction to attack. Before Flybeemon even knew what hit him his face was completely covered in webs. Instinctively the hunter took a step back, giving Ken the opportunity to move away unnoticed and not a moment to soon. In his rage at being attacked by a meaningless child digimon the red dragonfly brought his claws forward and started shooting his energy blasts everywhere. Luckily for Ken and Wormmon they all missed, but the damage to their surroundings was enormous. 

"I'll get you for this insult," Flybeemon hissed angrily, taking to a few meters in the air before trying to remove the sticky substance from his face. Grumbling the entire time he did so while Ken and Wormmon waited patiently for him to finish. Maybe it would have been smarter to get away while the cyber insect was distracted, but Ken was tired of running and fully intent on ending this little endeavor right here, right now. The young boy had crossed his arms and quietly observed Flybeemon's clumsy attempt to free his face. Meanwhile Wormmon had scooted towards a nearby traffic light and with his many appendages easily climbed to the top, bringing himself closer to Flybeemon's level. 

At last the red hunter had freed most of his face from Wormmon's silky attack and glared daggers at the young boy beneath him. 

"Are you ready to get back to business?" A voice on the battlefield said, surprising Flybeemon when the insect realized it was Ken who uttered it. He stared at the young human in surprise, finding it extremely hard to believe that he was actually taunting HIM. The human and his digimon stood no chance against the powerful adult that he was. Come to think of it, where was the little bug anyway, Flybeemon wondered. He got his answer soon enough though. 

"Random Roll," Flybeemon heard just before a green blur slammed into him. Using Ken's taunt as a distraction Wormmon had been able to launch himself at the red dragonfly without being detected. At the sudden hit by the rolled up form of the child digimon, Flybeemon's head snapped back while he himself flew back a meter or two from the impact. Wormmon landed harmlessly back at Ken's feet, Ken smiled at his digimon. For his part Wormmon tried to glare fiercely at Flybeemon but all it did was make him look even cuter, though this only succeeded in making the red hunter even angrier. Never before had he been so humiliated by a meager child. 

"This ends now," he hissed, charging up his claws with as much energy as he could summon. He would take both of them out with one gigantic explosion. 

"God Tornado," a harsh voice shouted out of nowhere as the blast that followed blew Flybeemon straight into a building. Flying down from one of the large nearby buildings was a dragon-like creature, glaring menacingly at the hole Flybeemon made on his impact.  The newcomer wore a large skull on his head, two horns of bone protruded from the back. Sharp teeth adorned his maw, opened up now to prepare another attack. His body was blue, similar in color as V-mon though the flying dragon's body was serpentine, with no arms or legs. Big red wings sprouted from its back, looking a lot like oversized bat wings to Ken. 

"Airdramon," Wormmon whispered, Ken could barely hear his companion's words. A loud shriek diverted their attention from the hovering beast and to the building that the red hunter had crashed into. Clearly from the look of things Flybeemon wasn't too happy about that. Angered to be humiliated again he shot forth from the apartment complex to destroy the offending Airdramon. Of course the dragon couldn't just let that happen, so he let fly his own attacks at the bug again. Red laser beams shot at the menacing insect at high speeds, but it was still able to dodge them while coming ever closer. Realizing that taking on this high-speed adult head on would be akin to suicide, Airdramon started flapping his wings to take him out of the killer's path, still firing his own attacks. All of them realized that the flying dragon wouldn't be able to get away from Flybeemon in time, nor would he be able to land a single hit while the red hunter was still evading at high speed. 

_I'm going to get this foolish creature for interfering_, Flybeemon thought furiously and in his anger failed to understand the mistake of focusing solely on the lone Airdramon and nothing else. 

Wasting no more time Wormmon fired his Sticky Net in front of Flybeemon's flight trajectory, making the dragonfly crash in to the substance which adhered to his face immediately. Momentarily blinded by the stuff he flew past Airdramon and crashed into the building in front of him. In a daze he fell to the ground, holding his aching head. The dragon looked at the temporary helpless form of the enemy which had invaded his territory and he opened his large maw.

"God Tornado!" He shouted, blowing Flybeemon completely apart, shocking the boy and his digimon at the intensity of the attack. Airdramon then turned his attention to the two other interlopers on the ground and glared down at them menacingly. Growling he prepared another attack, Wormmon protectively moved in front of Ken. Nobody in this little standoff noticed the dark energy which escaped Flybeemon's destroyed body, going back to where it came from.  

Authors Notes: 

Originally Chapter 12 was supposed to be called "The Search for Mugen Dramon", but unfortunately I could barely find the time to write. It's now about a month since I posted chapter eleven and I was only about halfway with twelve. This didn't really sit well with me, so I've decided to split the chapter in two and that's what you've been reading just now. 

I don't know when I'll be able to post the next chapter but I'll try to find as much time as I can to write it. After all, I seem to have ended this one with a little cliffhanger J 

Translations: Japanese to English

Pinocchimon = Puppetmon

Piemon = Piedmon

As always, please leave a review, it doesn't take much time, nor does it have to say a lot, but they make me all happy inside. 

Preview of the next Chapter:

With Ken and Wormmon missing Ryo and V-mon anxiously search the city for their missing friends and Mugen Dramon's lair. Will Ryo find Ken in time or will the Master's newest creation ruin their chances for reunion. Not to mention what Airdramon is going to do. 


	14. Search and Rescue

Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own digimon.

Chapter 13: Search and Rescue

Ryo's Log: August 2000, Machine City, Server Continent

Our first day in Machine City didn't start out as good as I would have liked. Not long after we started our search for Mugen Dramon we were attacked by a creature called Flybeemon. With clever tactics he managed to separate us, and then went after Ken and Wormmon. To make matters worse someone or something messed with the tracking ability of our digivices, making it virtually impossible for us to find each other again. So now we're not only looking for our enemy but for each other as well.

End log

From his hilltop filled with small cages containing a multitude of scared child digimon, the humanoid figure of the Master looked towards a part of the city where only moments ago a battle had been taking place.  

"How truly pitiful," the master said before bringing up his left hand. The children looked on in rapt attention, fearful of what their kidnapper was going to do to them next. They had been held captive for at least a day and some of the others even two or three. Those days were the most frightening of their young lives, an occurrence that might even scar them for the remainder of it. All hoped for freedom, of being rescued by friends or family, but as the time went by their hopes started to fade. When the first were taken they had hope, telling their jailers, Flybeemon and the cloaked one, that when they were found they'd be sorry. But as more and more were kidnapped and caged they heard what went on in the area. The digimon were on alert, but had no idea who was behind the disappearances or why they happened. In short, there would be no rescue any time soon. But that was to be expected, at least the Master knew it would happen, since the area in itself was dangerous and digimon were known to be deleted all the time.

Moments after the cloaked man had raised his hand a beam of darkness shot forth from the city and in his waiting palm. Once there it coalesced into the form of a black egg and he closed his fingers around it. 

"In case you're wondering," he started saying, his back still turned to all the cages, "Flybeemon was just killed." 

A gasp was heard from all the digimon while a trickle of hope was forming. If the red hunter was destroyed there may be a rescue soon. The master smirked, knowing that his next act would surely crush their spirits even further. 

"And as such I need a replacement," he added, finally turning around to face them. Faster then any of them could react, he lashed out, kicking one of the small cages from one of the piles. With a crash and a loud scream from the poor Elecmon inside, it hit the ground, rolling over a few times from the impact. Dazed from the fall the little lightning rodent looked up at the dark cloaked shadow that fell on top of him. Elecmon shivered, wondering what his tormentor was going to do to him and why specifically him? He wasn't here as long as some of the others but he supposed that didn't matter much now. 

"Welcome to your new life, slave," the Master said in a chilling voice, "short though it might be." 

Before the child knew what was happening he was screaming his lunges out when darkness lunged at him and enveloped him. Within seconds he lost all feeling to his body, it was even like he had lost his physical form. It reminded him about the few times he had evolved to get to his form of Elecmon, but those times it felt warm and good, like being in a perfect light. This evolution, if it was in fact that, was cold and dark and as evil as his Master. For a moment he realized that this was the first time he had thought about his kidnapper as master and it scared him. His fear melted quickly though as he felt his mind collapse. 

When the darkness lifted Elecmon was gone, in his place stood a new digimon, new both in form and mind. He had become a large boar, sturdy and strong with fur like flames. A moment's consideration showed that the fur was in fact made of fire, not just looking like it. A fiery crest ran over his back, beginning at his head and stopping at his rear, his tail also ended in a flame. He had two strong red tusks with black stripes. His head was also adorned with a metal plate, ideal for charging in, and possibly through, enemies. The other children were startled at the current turn of events, their kidnapper had evolved one of them with that strange egg. They hoped for a moment that the evolved Elecmon would free them, but as he just stood there waiting for the figure to give him an order they knew their hope was in vain. For the first time since they were captured they knew why they were there, as cannon fodder against the Master's enemies. Flybeemon had failed in his assignment and now it was time for one of them to take over and complete whatever task they were set to. And if one failed another would take its place, over and over again till they were all dead. 

"Boarmon, go into the city and take care of the Chosen," the Master ordered, "they can't be allowed to reach Mugen Dramon, at least not yet." 

With a grunt as confirmation the boar barged down the hill and into the city, ready to take care of his Master's wishes.

For more then an hour now they had been searching the city for any sign of Ken, Wormmon or Flybeemon. But it was all to no avail, there was no trace of any of them. For a while they had hoped to track them down by following Flybeemon's trail of destruction, but in a city as damaged as this one that proved futile as well. There was just no way of distinguishing between the damage possibly caused by Flybeemon and the damage caused by whatever else was out there. The digivice wasn't helping either, the tracking mode was still giving only static and Ryo suspected that Ken's was probably doing the same. It was like someone was jamming their signals to give the dragonfly a better chance of finishing them of separately, but the question was of course, who? 

It could be the Master, something as sneaky as that seemed right up his alley, but how did he do it? To sabotage their digivices he would need to have intimate knowledge of their functions. If he had one of his own then maybe he could dismantle it to see how it ticked, however that would give rise to the question of how he got one in the first place. Only Chosen had them, so either he would have to be a Chosen or have stolen one from another Chosen. If he was Chosen and thus human like them, then why would he try to stop them? That made no sense at all, unless he was a traitor._ Then wouldn't Gennai have informed me of him_?     

Another suspect was Chimeramon, or even Mugen Dramon. But Mugen Dramon should have no idea they were coming and considering his power would just kill them himself. Chimeramon shouldn't know they were here either, but if he did then did he have the power to disable the digivices already? 

Ryo sighed, there was of course another possibility, the one or ones responsible could be a local evil and not connected with the Master or Chimeramon and his evolution. Like the Phantomon they'd fought in Toy Town it could be just another evil digimon looking for power. So much evil seemed to exist in the digital world, it was almost depressing. But Ryo remembered the good digimon he'd met so there was probably a balance between the two. Earth to has its fair share of evil he knew, so why would Digiworld be any different. The only difference was that he had to come close to the evil here because he was a force of good. 

"Still thinking about what's wrong with the digivice?" V-mon asked suddenly, shaking him from his thoughts. 

"Yeah, I'm still wondering what's causing this interference," Ryo answered, "It's just a bit to convenient for it to happen just when Ken's separated from us so close to Mugen Dramon's lair."

"You think they're still alive?" V-mon asked what both had been thinking the entire time but hadn't dared to voice up till now. 

"As long as there is still static I believe they're still alive. Ken's resourceful and even if Wormmon isn't the most powerful digimon around I know he'll do whatever he can to protect that boy. I believe the static is to keep us apart so whoever is responsible can finish of Ken without us there to stop them. If they'd succeeded the interference would most likely be lifted so we'd be able to find their dead bodies, those sadistic bastards." Ryo said. 

"That's what I was thinking too," V-mon said, when a sudden rumbling sound made them stop dead in their tracks. 

"What's happening now?" Ryo asked no one in particular. Turning around they saw a bright orange dot coming rapidly towards them from the end of the street they'd been traversing. 

"I have a bad feeling about this," Ryo said, narrowing his eyes and gripping his digivice tightly in his hand. Slowly V-mon started to feel energy flowing in him through the digivice and though he didn't really need it to go to his adult form he welcomed it nonetheless. A blue light enveloped his body, transforming him into his adult form, the Victory Dragon, V-dramon.

"Whatever he wants, we'll take care of it," V-dramon said, preparing himself for what was to come.

At full speed the digimon ran straight at V-dramon, who by now had gotten a pretty good look at it. However this digimon was unknown to him, which was odd considering all the places he'd seen and all the digimon he met. When working for Gennai he had studied the old man's records about digimon and as such should know just about every digimon on the digital world. Still in the last few weeks he had fought against digimon previously unknown to him and all of them had worked for the one called the Master. 

"V-dramon, do you know who that digimon is?" Ryo asked, slightly stepping over to the sideline.

"I've never seen it before in my life Ryo," V-dramon answered, suddenly jumping aside as the wild boar thundered past him, through the place he was standing at only seconds before. The boar ran along for a couple of meters before stopping and turning about, facing V-dramon with a rage visible in his small eyes under the metal plate. 

"Who are you?!" Ryo shouted over to the attacking digimon, diverting his attention away from V-dramon.

"Me Boarmon," the swine digimon exclaimed slowly as if it had difficulty forming the words, "for Master me kill you." 

Angrily the boar shook his head back in V-dramon's direction only to see a blue energy beam rocketing towards his face. With a crash it hit the metal plate covering his cranium, dispersing the energy into harmless particles. 

"Chromedigizoid," V-dramon muttered. There was no way that his V-breath Arrow could get through the hardest metal in existence, maybe if he was an Ultimate but not like this. Luckily only part of the Boarmon's head was covered and his body was completely free of the substance. Now all he had to do was hit the beast somewhere where he couldn't deflect the attack.

"My turn," Boarmon growled, "Nose Blaster!" 

The dragon didn't like the sound of that attack, getting a scary vision of piles and piles of snot getting spewed at him out of the boar's big snout. _Eww, V-dramon thought, his face distorting in disgust at what he imagined would come. If the situation they were in wasn't as bad Ryo might have found his friend's reaction hilarious, getting a pretty good idea of what was going through the dragon's mind right now. _You have to focus V-dramon_, Ryo thought. All this happened in only a few seconds after Boarmon called out his attack after which the attack finally came forth. Boarmon was snorting with his nose, something was coming out but it wasn't snot, it was fire. Two streams of fire shot out of the boar's nostrils, snaking their way through the air at V-dramon. Dodging to his right he was able to avoid the flames and took another shot at Boarmon._

"V-Breath Arrow!" He shouted firing the blue arrow shaped blast at his enemy. At once Boarmon let go of his own attack, the trail of flames from the nose died out almost instantly, though the damage to the building it had hit remained. Again Boarmon turned his head to face the incoming attack, deflecting it on his metal plating like he had done before. 

"Bullet Attack," said Boarmon, his flaming body lighting up a bit as he charged at V-dramon.  

Back in his nest, which was a complete floor in one of the tall buildings of Machine City, Airdramon was once again perched. Where was his home exactly? He didn't rightly know or care, all that matters is that it is his and that it's located inside the city. Outside laid a long street, one of the few big roads that led through the place. From his location he had a pretty good view of the surrounding area, so he knew instantly when others invaded his territory. It had been happening often now that one of the local residents had evolved into an Ultimate and was driving other digimon from their homes. Plus the new Mugen Dramon had been gathering other machine and cyborg digimon to him to take over the city. Not a day went by that he didn't have to kill a few scouting cybernetic digimon, they would come to his property and he would destroy them from the air. Today had been no different when the three invaders came, though they were more fighting with each other then they were truly scouting. One had been a red dragonfly-like digimon of the cybernetic kind. His sneak attack had knocked the wind out of it, but not for long. It seemed a tough battle for a moment, but in the end he had been victorious. The second invader was a bug digimon, but the third was unknown to him, in fact it wasn't even a digimon. He recalled the strange encounter, for it wasn't like any other he had before.

"God Tornado!" He shouted, blowing Flybeemon completely apart, the intensity of the attack shocked both the boy and his digimon. With one of his enemies down, the Airdramon turned his attention to the two other interlopers on the ground, glaring at them with eyes filled with malice. Growling he prepared to attack again, the energy for it forming rapidly. The digimon, a Wormmon he reckoned, not the strongest of digimon, moved protectively in front of the blue haired human boy.

This would be easy, the two didn't stand a chance, not like that dragonfly. They looked at him, their eyes filled with fear, but also hope and defiance. They were not machine digimon, nor were they seemingly aligned with them if their help against Flybeemon had been any indication. Maybe he should give them a warning, they didn't seem to be from around here. 

It was then that the boy took a step forward and spoke. 

"Shit," V-dramon swore, using all his strength to keep the boar digimon at bay. In his Bullet Attack the Boarmon had charged up his flaming body with fire, very, very hot fire and had shot forth at the blue dragon. V-dramon had only barely been able to grab hold of the raging beast's tusk before it slammed into him. Now they were in a wrestling match, both of them trying to topple the other. As Ryo looked on it became painfully obvious that V-dramon wouldn't be able to hold of Boarmon forever. V-dramon was very strong, able to defeat almost all the digimon they had faced, certainly when they were of the same level. But Boarmon had a lot of strength of his own, combined with his bulky form it was almost impossible for V-dramon to do anything else but keep him away.

"V-dramon! Hang on for just a while longer," Ryo called over to the two struggling warriors. 

"Yeah, sure. No problem," huffed the blue dragon, earning a snort from Boarmon as a reply. If only his body wasn't made of fire, V-dramon thought, as then he would know exactly what to do. As the two titans continued to fight, Ryo was looking around for something to help his friend and partner with. His gaze fell upon a pile of rubble from a nearby collapsed building, the perfect ammunition. Taking another short glance at his digimon, who was still valiantly holding on, he dashed over to the pile and picket up a rock twice the size of his fist. 

"This will do nicely," he mumbled, moving back to the fight with it. The only problem now was where to hit the boar with it, seeing as his body is so bulky and enflamed it wouldn't cause enough damage to hurt it and help V-dramon. Considering the problem Ryo soon realized that he didn't need to seriously hurt him, just startle the beast enough for V-dramon to get out of his current predicament and attack the wild digimon while it was down. That still left the question though of where to hit it, something he had to find out soon or it might just be too late. Already V-dramon was starting to fall back by the intense heat generated by Boarmon's body. Okay, so the body is definitely out of the question, Ryo thought to himself, so that leaves…the head. But the head is protected by that metal plating and V-dramon holds him by the tusks. Except where his eye is, neither the plating nor V-dramon's arms are shielding that! 

Still hitting Boarmon directly in his eye without striking V-dramon by accident wouldn't be easy and almost impossible from the distance currently between them. Gripping his rock tightly, Ryo sprinted forward hoping to be able to catch the beast of guard to maximize the effect. With the distance between them all closing and V-dramon taking a step back from the heat, Ryo knew that now was the time for his attack. Throwing the rock at the boar with only a couple meters between them the young Chosen saw it go towards the target. Crossing his fingers he could only hope he had thrown it right, but now only time will tell. As if it was in slow-motion Ryo saw the rock flying towards V-dramon's hand and not Boarmon's eye. Paling Ryo feared he ruined all V-dramon's chances, but then the dragon's eye seemed to sense the approaching stone. Pushing against Boarmon even harder he managed to lower the creature's head a little, bringing it into the path of the projectile. 

Boarmon shrieked loudly when the stone hit his eye, partially embedding itself there. All thought of fighting left the dark digimon as he started trashing about in pain. He barely resisted as the blue dragon, a victorious grin on his face, pushed hard against him and threw him into a wall. The pain was still there, but now there was rage as well. Boarmon, now blind in one eye, got back on his feet and glared at the brown haired boy. The Chosen had blinded him and robbed him of his victory, for this he would pay dearly. With a bestial snarl he charged at Ryo, but unfortunately had forgotten two important things. Firstly his master's instructions, making him convulse in pain the nearer he got to eliminating the child. For some reason unknown to the beast of burden the Master wanted the Akiyama boy to stay alive. The same could not be said about the others, but he had to stay alive at all cost. 

The second thing he had forgotten was the other presence on the street, V-dramon, who had not forgotten about him. 

"V-breath Arrow!" the Victory dragon shouted, shooting his deadly attack at their enemy. Being in pain as he was, Boarmon was unable to dodge or deflect the attack. Instead the bluish arrow of energy hit him in his exposed flank, piercing his fiery fur and coursing far in his body. 

"Agh," the beast exclaimed before bursting apart into data.

"Oh wow! You are so cool, Airdramon!" The boy exclaimed much to the flying dragon's surprise. Likewise the little Wormmon was looking at the blue haired boy in shock, this was no way to speak to someone who was on the verge of attacking them.

"You really saved us from that evil Flybeemon, thank you very much!" Ken said gratefully. 

Airdramon looked at the two guests in his lair who were now busily looking around the place. The dragon let them be. While they were satisfying their curiosity he had some time to think. The boy, Ken, was really appreciative and kind and so was his digimon. They were the kind of people he hadn't encountered for a very long time, certainly not since taking up residence in Machine City. Seeing Ken reminded him of the stories of a year back, the ones about the Chosen who set right what was wrong in Digiworld. 

Knowing now that the two couldn't have worked for the machine digimon who were once again taking control of the city for their master, another Mugen Dramon, he decided to spare them. Maybe the Chosen Children were once again trying to free the world of evil and in that case it would be disastrous to stop them. The two before him had obviously made some enemies already, so it would be prudent to get them out of harms way, at least for a little while. He was really curious as to why they had come to the city so he quickly made up his mind, he would take them to his lair so he could ask his questions in peace. 

Airdramon's suggestion to take a break in his lair was accepted by Ken and Wormmon, though the latter was still a bit suspicious.  He explained to them that his lair was at the top of the building they were standing at. The lower floors didn't actually survive and to get to the top you'd have to resort to flying. 

"But we can't fly," Ken said after the flying dragon's explanation, looking up at Airdramon like he was going to make a suggestion.

"I'll take you up there," volunteered Airdramon. Lowering his head to the ground he allowed Ken and his digimon to get on top. With his passengers on his head Airdramon quickly flew them to his floor, Ken standing firmly and proud at one of his horns, seemingly at ease riding the dragon into the sky. The flight was short, to short for Ken who really enjoyed flying on top of Airdramon's head. Wormmon was glad it was over, not because he was afraid since he was naturally built to be able to stick onto anything, but because Ken wasn't. 

So that's how they all came to be in the lair of the dragon, Airdramon mused. While he had been looking back at what had happened, Ken and Wormmon had finished their explorations and had returned to his side.

"You have a really great view up here, Airdramon," Ken said. 

"Thanks again for helping us," added Wormmon. 

"It wasn't a problem," Airdramon said, resting his head on his curled-up body in such a way that he was close to his two visitors, "but maybe you can answer some of my questions?"

"Of course," Ken answered quickly, wondering if he could tell Airdramon everything about what they were doing.

"You are a Chosen Child, am I right?" Airdramon started asking, continuing after a confirming nod from the boy, "tell me, why are you here? Recently a Mugen Dramon has taken over part of the city, are you here because of him?"

For a moment Ken debated with himself whether or not to tell Airdramon the truth. If he did then maybe the red-winged dragon could help them against the cybernetic dragon. At the very least he might tell them where Mugen Dramon's lair is hidden, that piece of information alone was worth a great deal. However it could be possible that Airdramon is in league with the metallic Ultimate. Telling him then would be akin to suicide. Quickly outweighing the pros and cons of telling the truth to Airdramon, Ken was aware of both the dragon's and Wormmon's gaze upon him, waiting for him to make up his mind.

"Yes, we are after Mugen Dramon to destroy him," Ken finally stated, looking intently at Airdramon to see his reaction.   

"Guess what, my little friends," the Master said smugly, looking over all the assembled digimon in their respective cages, "your little friend, the Elecmon, has failed me. You know what that means don't you?" 

All of them had feared this moment since they saw what this monster had done to the young Elecmon, knowing that when he failed one of them would have to take his place and march to his or her death. His gaze seemed to size everyone up like they were nothing more then a piece of meat. One of the little digimon, a brown furred digimon that looked like a hamster with bat wings for ears, couldn't take it anymore. The Patamon, trapped in the top cage of his pile of cages, got up on his little feet and scowled at the Master. He was the only one, the others either didn't dare look at the cloaked figure or if they did it was with fear filled eyes. The Master noticed this, resting his gaze on the brave, but ultimately foolish, Patamon. He had found his replacement, he knew it, the Patamon knew it, and the others knew it. 

"Y-you may think you can enslave me," said Patamon, his voice trembling at first but becoming stronger as he was gaining courage born out of desperation. Patamon knew his end was near, but he wouldn't go down while cowering for his life, he wouldn't give the monster in front of him the satisfaction. "But that will only be my body! You won't have my mind, you monster, you can't control my mind!"

"Brave words, but in a few moments there won't be a mind left to control," the Master said calmly. The digimental of Darkness started emanating its dark energy once more before flying out the cloaked figure's hand, through the bars of the little cage and into the child digimon's body.  Though he had resolved himself not to do so Patamon cried out in pain and agony the moment the energy penetrated him. Like the others before him his body became a deep darkness before expanding, breaking free of the cage that bound him. He became more bulky and strong, his soft brown fur giving way for hard grey skin. Armor, while not as strong as Chromedigizoid but coming close to its power nonetheless, formed around his strong grey body. The armor had a golden sheen to it, polished to perfection. The lower part of his helmet was lined with rubies, higher up it was decorated with curvy silver lines. On his nose stood a prominent horn, golden like his armor and decorated with silver. His armored body was also gold adorned with silver. Each of his four hooves also had golden armor and like his helmet had rubies on them. Whereas Patamon had been a very light digimon, his new armored adult form was extremely heavy and unfortunately for some he had been in his cage on top of the pile when he transformed. Now gravity was doing its job pulling him down to the ground. The cages beneath him couldn't hold him and he came crashing down through them, completely obliterating the metal and the digimon they had held. Flocks of data particles and broken bars were all that remained of the captured digimon in Patamon's pile. With a loud bang the armored digimon hit the ground on his four stubby legs, not caring at all for the digimon that had died beneath him.

"See this new form, children?" the Master asked, not expecting an answer and not getting one either, "While Boarmon was very strong, his defenses were severely lacking. This digimon remedies that flaw quite effectively. Go Rhinomon, take care of the young one."

With a growl the Rhinoceros digimon charged down the hill and into the city. His mind or what was left of it anyway, was fully intent on taking down his assigned targets for his glorious Master. The remaining child digimon watched him go wondering how long he would last and who would be the next to die. 

Back in the city, unaware of the danger approaching them, two figures were walking in the streets surrounded by many imposing buildings. The destruction of the digimon who had been preying on them not so long ago had eased their minds somewhat. And with a little unexpected help they were once again on the way to complete their assignment. It had taken Ken and Wormmon a lot of persuading to sway Airdramon into telling them the location of Mugen Dramon's lair. Luckily for them the blue dragon had no love for his cybernetic 'cousin' and would rather see him dead then alive. The biggest problem had been to convince Airdramon that they stood a chance against the Ultimate, something he was quite skeptic about. To tell the truth, Ken wasn't all that sure about their chances either, but he had to have that information. Telling Airdramon that there was a stronger Chosen in the city had helped a lot and combining that with the fact that no Chosen had failed in their assigned missions yet finally convinced the dragon to give them the information. At the request of him taking them he had declined, stating that he'd be shot out of the air faster then a Numemon got out of the sunlight. If it had been anywhere else he would have flown them instantly, having taken a liking to the young boy and his worm, but not to Mugen Dramon's hideout. 

"We're finally on the right track, aren't we Wormmon?" Ken asked cheerfully. After thanking their generous savior for all he had done for them they had quickly assumed their track through the city, only this time they knew where they were headed. Apparently the Ultimate cyborg had made his home in the center of the city in an industrial district only a few hours away from Airdramon's lair on foot. Now with the adult dragon's home about an hour behind them Ken was getting more and more excited with the prospect of reaching their goal. 

"But is it smart to go to Mugen Dramon's lair without Ryo and V-mon?" Wormmon replied with a question of his own. This made Ken think of the one great flaw in his plan, the absence of the stronger Chosen Ryo. A quick glance on his digivice showed that he could still not use it to find Ryo and Ryo probably not use it to find him. 

"We'll go to the lair and if Ryo hasn't caught up with us then we'll just have to find a way to signal him." Ken stated confidently.

"We've been walking for hours and still no sign of Ken and Wormmon," Ryo sighed, staring at the buildings around him. Though they were all different, in size, stature or form, they might as well have been completely the same. He was completely lost after all the twists and turns they had made with nothing distinct to navigate by, not even the sun which was still hidden behind a dense curtain of clouds.

"We can't give up now," V-mon gritted, like his human partner he too was worried about their friends, even about Wormmon. Who would have thought I'd ever be worried about a virus digimon, he thought. But Wormmon had proven himself to be different then the others and protected Ken even with the meager powers that he possessed. 

"Where would you go if you were Ken?" V-mon asked. Ryo had been thinking about that as well and as far as he knew Ken that was an easy answer. Ken would continue on to Mugen Dramon's lair and hope to meet up with him there. 

"We need to find that lair," Ryo said. If only his digivice wasn't malfunctioning they would have been able to find Ken a long time ago, but now they just had to do it the hard way. So far they had little luck in locating the missing boy and the day had already progressed into the afternoon. How much longer did they have before night fell or before Chimeramon shows up? He's on his way, I know it, it's impossible but I just know it, Ryo thought when a sound in the distance drew him back to reality.

"What's that?" Ryo questioned, trying to determine where the sound was coming from. 

"It sounds like…explosions," V-mon said, turning towards Ryo as the boy did the same to him.

"Ken!" They both shouted at the same time.

"It's getting closer Ken," Wormmon said worriedly. At first there was a sound in the distance, to far away to determine what it was. But as time went by it came closer and closer, that loud crashing sound. It came from their left and as they looked in that direction they were greeted with the sight of an enormous dust cloud. The cloud seemed to go towards them along with that sound, like they belonged together. 

"We've got to get going," Ken gulped, ushering Wormmon along with him. Whatever it was that was approaching them Ken had no desire to find out what it was. They started running down the street, away from the pursuing monster, the both of them a tad afraid of what it could be. This is not my day, Ken thought wryly, reminiscing for a moment about the encounter they had with Flybeemon. That was definitely a low point of their day, but on the plus side they did get to meet with Airdramon and find out about the location of Mugen Dramon's lair. From what he could tell they were getting very close to the hideout of the Big Bad. Not exactly the best location to pick a fight as Ken was quite sure that a fight would certainly be the result when the source of the dust cloud caught up with them. If they lured Mugen Dramon out then they would be facing two threats. 

Glancing back the blue haired boy witnessed a shocking sight, one of the buildings behind him suddenly collapsed sending a large amount of dust into the sky. It went down slowly at first, so slow that Ken was sure it had been a trick of the light, but then it went faster. The skyscraper didn't fall over, at least not at first, it just seemed to sink into the ground. Something had happened to the foundation making the building collapse in on itself. After the structure had shrunk to about half its size the rest teetered over, impacting with another building. 

"Ken?" Wormmon voiced. It was then that the boy realized that he had stopped running to look at the collapsing building. He was about to start again, but it was already too late. With a crash a part of the wall of a building further back in the street exploded outwards over the road. Slowly the entire building crashed down sending a cloud of dust to obscure the view of the street. There was nowhere left to run now that the mysterious force had reached their street. Shooting forth from the cloud was a golden blur going at them at full speed. With a yelp Ken jumped aside and just in time, avoiding a fate of becoming road kill. Laying sprawled on the street the young Chosen glared daggers at the offending digimon as it stopped and turned some twenty meters away from him. Wormmon quickly hopped to his fallen friend while keeping a close eye on the newcomer. Now that it had stopped moving they could see that it was fully armored and resembled a rhinoceros. 

"Rhinomon I assume," Ken whispered to his digimon as he got back up on his feet. 

"I think you're right," Wormmon replied. 

Without saying anything Rhinomon charged at them again, the ground shaking under his heavy treads as he thundered towards them. 

"Silk thread!" 

From Wormmon's mouth a thread of pure silk shot to one of the buildings, clinging to it instantly. Swinging his body on the line he grabbed hold of Ken's back with his many appendages and swung the both of them out of Rhinomon's way. Not stopping, even though he had missed his targets, the demolition digimon barged straight through a wall and into another building. Completing their swing the young warriors landed at the other end of the street, staring at the hole the rhinoceros had made. Though they could still hear the thundering strides of their enemy he was nowhere in sight. Suddenly a wall far to their left burst apart, bringing Rhinomon back into the street. Predictably the beast charged the young Chosen again while the buildings he had crashed through started collapsing. Their former escape tactic, using the wall on the other side of the street as a target for Wormmon's Silk Thread wouldn't work anymore now that the wall was a piece of rubble. 

"Silk Thread," Wormmon said again, shooting line at the buildings at their side of the street. Taking hold of Ken again he made a shorter and harder swing this time, only barely avoiding the barging rhino. Again Rhinomon continued his charge to destroy the buildings on this side of the street as well. With both sides destroyed Wormmon wouldn't be able to swing them out of harms way again. Realizing this, the two young ones started running away, hoping that it would take Rhinomon some time to turn around again from his charge so they could increase the distance between them somewhat. Alas it was not to be, Rhinomon almost instantly went after them again closing the short distance almost in one stride. Knowing that the beast was to close to them now to be able to jump to safety Ken closed his eyes as he ran hoping the inevitable would be quick and painless. Not looking where he was going the boy didn't see the rock sticking out from the asphalt right in front of him. Tripping over it Ken fell forward onto the street, laying there completely motionless. Over the thundering crashes of Rhinomon's stampede he thought he could here a grunt, but he ignored it waiting for the pain of being trampled over. When after a few seconds he was still there in one piece and the sound and shockwaves of Rhinomon charging stopped he opened his eyes. His head close to the ground he saw a pair of very familiar white sneakers in front of him, looking up he saw Ryo looking down at him. It's like how we first met, Ken though in a daze.    

"Hey Ken, this isn't exactly the right time to take a nap you know," Ryo quipped before offering his hand to help Ken get up. 

"How did you find us?" Ken asked when his feet were firmly planted on the ground again. In response Ryo simply pointed behind the boy. 

"Simple, you left quite a trail to follow." Ryo said as Ken stared incredulously at the scene of devastation that seemed to go on for miles. 

"Oh right," he laughed nervously. 

"Atomic Burst!" An unknown voice shouting, drawing away Ken's attention from the ruins to the fight going on a few meters away. With a burst of speed Rhinomon charged at the blue dragon, but V-dramon was prepared for it and jumped aside. Turning his body in Rhinomon's direction he quickly fired a V-breath Arrow at the back of the beast. The attack impacted on the rhinoceros' armored rear, doing only a small amount of damage. Planting his feet firmly on the ground Rhinomon and skidding sideways he quickly came to a full stop. 

"Split Blade!" the armored beast shouted, gathering blue energy around his horn. Making a slashing movement with his head the energy blade shot away from the horn towards the blue dragon. Twisting his body to the side he narrowly avoided being cut in two by the furious attack. The few seconds of diversion the split blade had bought were all Rhinomon needed to make another charge at V-dramon. This time there was no way he'd be able to jump aside having his body in a rather awkward position. Straightening up V-dramon brought his claws forward, making a grab for Rhinomon's horn when he was almost upon him. The force of the impact drove the Victory Dragon back several meters till he managed to brace himself and stop the charge. The two continued to wrestle for supremacy, but for the moment seemed evenly matched. 

"Split Blade," Rhinomon said, gathering energy to his horn. V-dramon cursed, scorching his hands on the collected energy. Grunting, he used Rhinomon's own force against him as he furiously pushed the beast's head to his right before dodging to the left. Still trying to force V-dramon down he couldn't prevent lurching forward as his forward momentum made him skid past the blue dragon and making him fire his blade attack at the same time. Stopping almost immediately Rhinomon turned his head to where he believed V-dramon to be and glared furiously at his opponent, though with the helmet covering his head no one could see it. He was at once greeted with the sight of the dragon's fist coming at him. 

"Hammer Punch!" gritted the dragon, unleashing a fury of punches to the armored beast's head. V-dramon stood close to Rhinomon's body now, still beating the crap out of the armored head. Suddenly Rhinomon, being quite fed up with the continued barrage of punching aimed at his person, threw the side of his head into the dragon's stomach. Gasping for air the victory dragon jumped back a few meter on reflex, thankful that it wasn't the horn that had hit him. Panting a bit from the last impact V-dramon showed at triumphant grin, admiring his handiwork. Large cracks ran the entire length of Rhinomon's armored head, some were large enough to be able to see through. From one such crack a blood red eye set in gray skin angrily gazed at V-dramon. 

"Split Blade," Rhinomon growled, gathering the necessary energy and firing the attack at his opponent. 

V-dramon responded in kind, opening his mouth and shooting forth his powerful V-breath Arrow. The two energy attacks met in the middle, canceling each other out with a bang. Not waiting another moment Rhinomon rushed at the dragon, but his opponent was once again prepared for him. Jumping up and forward V-dramon missed getting his by the horn as Rhinomon raised it when the dragon flew over him. Hanging almost upside down in the air V-dramon planted his hand on Rhinomon's back for a moment to balance himself as the beast went by underneath him. That small window of time was all V-dramon needed to flip upright and land easily on his feet. 

"V-breath Arrow," he shouted, firing his own energy blast at the armored beast's back, but Rhinomon wouldn't be caught that easily. Skidding sideways to decrease his speed he swung his charged up horn in the direction of the energy arrow coming towards him, canceling it out just in time. 

"You fight good," Rhinomon said slowly, "but I finish it now." 

"Funny, I was just about to suggest the same," V-dramon replied. Angrily Rhinomon charged at the blue dragon again and V-dramon braced himself. Grabbing the horn with his right hand he tried to remain on his feet while he was pushed back. Bringing back his left fist he quickly made a few quick punches to the cracked side of the rhinoceros' helmet, and then jumped to his left letting Rhinomon shoot past him. Rhinomon skidded to a halt and was about to turn towards the blue dragon again when V-dramon's fist hit him again. Twisting around himself V-dramon slapped the beast hard with his tail, finishing with a roundhouse kick to the head. The force was too much for Rhinomon and he fell on his side, his bulk making it virtually impossible for him to get back up again, at least not within a reasonable amount of time. He started trashing about but it was to no avail, Rhinomon could no longer do anything to V-dramon. 

"Well, that's that I suppose," V-dramon said calmly, before shouting the name of one of his trademark moves, "Hammer Punch." 

His fists impacted with the armor on Rhinomon's belly while the digimon in question was crying out in anger and helplessness. It didn't take long for the armor to start breaking apart; being the thinnest part of the entire defensive gear it wasn't meant for being in the line of fire. 

Shattering apart, leaving behind a big hole showing Rhinomon's dark grey skin, V-dramon stopped his onslaught. 

"Goodbye," he said simply, gathering energy for him more powerful V-breath Arrow now that he had the time to gather what he needed in peace. The last words before bursting apart into bits of data were 'V-breath Arrow' spoken by the always triumphant Victory Dragon. Momentarily the data particles coalesced into a dark form, then an energy beam of darkness broke out of the remains and shot of into the sky. V-dramon sighed, the Master was still quite busy in hindering them. Devolving into his child form V-mon walked back to his three companions.

"Well done V-mon," Ryo commented. 

"Ah, it was nothing," V-mon said modestly. 

"I should hope not, if you have difficulty with these small fries we're in big trouble later," replied Ryo. 

"Hey! I can take it," V-mon boasted, challenging Ryo with his expression to say something else. 

"Thank you for helping us V-mon," Ken said quickly, hoping to avoid a possible argument. While they never went past teasing he didn't want to risk it going farther now. 

"No problem kid," V-mon said with a smirk, "now that we're all together again we can go back to finding Mugen Dramon's lair."

"Yeah, wherever that is," Ryo said with a sigh. 

"It's at the end of this street," Ken said, gesturing to the large warehouse structures that had appeared in the distance.

"What did you say?" V-mon asked in surprise.

"He said that Mugen Dramon's hideout is at the end of this street," Wormmon voiced. 

"That's what I thought he said," Ryo said, a pensive look on his face," and how do you two know this exactly?"  
"A friend told us," Ken said enthusiastically. Ryo rolled his eyes, if there was one thing Ken was really good at it was making friends in the most unlikely of places. 

"You'll have to tell me about this friend later," Ryo said, looking back at Ken, "right now we've got a job to do."

With the four of them united once again and the Master's latest digimon stopped again they continued their missions. Now with Mugen Dramon's lair in front of them nothing would stop them from going in there and challenging the Ultimate dragon to a fight to the death. 

Meanwhile in the east a creature of immense power was rapidly approaching the city. He had flown non-stop, dealing out death and destruction on his way, to reach Machine City as quickly as possible. Blasts of green energy ravaged the countryside in his wake, a dead and barren land being all that remained after he had past. 

Soon I will complete my destiny and we will be together forever, Chimeramon thought with a sadistic glee, those who have stood in our way will be made to realize their mistake before they die.

"Everything is coming together, the players are taking up their rightful places in the grant scheme of things," the Master said to no one in particular, tossing his Digimental of Darkness idly from hand to hand. Shifting his gaze from the western part of town to the far away east, he grinned under his hood. 

"It seems like your services are no longer required," he said, still not turning towards them. 

"R-Really?" One of them, a small Plotmon asked, "y-you're setting us free?"

"Free?" The Master said quizzically, "oh yes, as free as you'll ever be." 

An excited chatter started among the captives, the prospect of finally being released from this living nightmare was almost unbearable. Had they seen the malicious grin on the Master's face they wouldn't have been so ecstatic. But they didn't see it while he had his back to them and his face hidden in the hood of his cloak. Walking away from them he took a square box with a red button from the folds of his outfit, his thumb drawing circles across the button. 

After he had set a couple of feet the Plotmon that had asked him the question earlier noticed him walking away. 

"H-hey," he said, "aren't you going to release us?" 

"I'll give you the freedom only death can bring." With that he pressed the button as the digimon went silent in shock. A couple of flashes appeared around the cages, the captives watched this in growing apprehension. A second later the cages exploded, killing all of them before they had a chance to scream. With on the background a raging fire and a cloud of smoke the Master descended the hill and ventured into the city, his goal not to far away. 

Author's notes:

Sorry again for taking so long, but I hope you've enjoyed this chapter. I can't say when the next one will come out, but I'm really excited about it so with any luck it won't take as long as this one. 

Translations: Japanese to English

Plotmon = Salamon 

Preview of the next chapter:

Finally, the long awaited fight with Mugen Dramon has come. But can Ryo and Ken really stand a chance against an Ultimate Digimon, the strongest opponent to date? And with the powerful Chimeramon rapidly approaching and the Master butting in as always there's no telling what could happen. 


	15. Evolution or Death

Disclaimer: Do I own digimon, let me think for a moment…uhm…no.

Chapter 14: Evolution or Death. 

Ryo's Log: August 2000, Machine City, Server Continent

After several threats on our lives we all finally managed to find each other again, and not a moment to soon. Ken and Wormmon were being attacked by a ferocious digimon, but V-dramon managed to beat him before it could hurt us. 

Thanks to a friend Ken had made we now knew the location of Mugen Dramon's hideout, now we stand on the verge of entering this stronghold of evil and purge this world of darkness! Well, that's one way to look at it, a more realistic one would be to say that we're positively doomed.

End log

The sky, still as cloudy as ever, seemed to be even darker in this place. A sense of foreboding permeated the large structure in front of them. It seemed to be a large conglomeration of different kind of buildings, part of it, the front part, appeared to be a large warehouse, similar to those found at docks and harbors on Earth. Other parts resembled factories and one large tower was actually the cooling tower of a nuclear power plant. Ryo could only hope that there wasn't a reactor anywhere nearby otherwise one stray blast could very well kill them all. Well, at least it would kill Ken and him, he wasn't so sure what the effect would be on digimon, certainly not on the cybernetic variety. For all he knew the radiation wouldn't even faze Mugen Dramon, but from the look of the place he probably didn't have to worry. Everything seemed dead or in other states of malfunctioning. 

Still, it wasn't really a mystery why the metallic dragon had chosen this place as his base of operations, for a machine it probably had everything he ever needed and the structure was huge as well. 

"We have to be careful," Ken started, "according to our friend Mugen Dramon has been gathering digimon to him. He apparently sent most of them into the city to increase his powerbase, but there might still be some guards and stuff around here." 

"Right, that could be a problem. If we have to take down the guards it will cost our digimon strength, strength they need in the fight later. It was already bad enough we had to take out those digimon that attacked us in the streets."

"Don't worry, I can take them all down," V-mon said, flexing his muscles. 

"Showoff," Wormmon muttered. 

"And proud of it," V-mon shot back, grinning from ear to ear. Dropping the Smalltalk the four stepped up to a large garage door. For a moment they simply stood there, thinking back to how they had gotten this far and what they would be about to face. Ryo wondered if they could truly do it and if he could keep Ken safe through the coming encounter. V-mon doubted he could really stand up to an Ultimate like Mugen Dramon, but for the sake of Digiworld and Ryo he was going to die trying. Ken was sure that Ryo would find a way for them to win this, but he doubted if he and Wormmon would really be of help. Wormmon was having similar doubts as his partner, through all the dangers he had been unable to evolve. A child digimon unable to evolve to Adult for his Chosen, he had never heard of anything of the sort. 

"Well, let's do this," Ryo said softly, nodding at V-mon. Stepping forward Ryo tried a smaller door in the larger garage door, luckily enough it was unlocked. Opening it, but stepping aside as he did so, he cleared the way to Mugen Dramon's sanctuary. V-mon was the first to jump inside, appearing into a large interior, filled with crates, boxes and other stuff. Quick to follow was Wormmon who, like V-mon, was anxiously scanning the area around him. When it was clear there were no other digimon in sight they gave their human partners a signal and they entered the building as well. Closing the door behind them, to help the illusion that no one had entered, Ryo went to a large box. 

"We have to find Mugen Dramon in here without alerting any guards," Ryo whispered to his fellow trespassers. 

"It's rumored that Mugen Dramon has made his home in the large tower we saw," Ken whispered back. 

"Then that's the first place we're going to look." V-mon concluded. 

Keeping low to the ground and hiding behind the stuff stored in the warehouse, the four made their way further inside. They soon found out they weren't alone in the large building. V-mon was just about to make a dash to another pile of crates a few meters away when they heard something made of wood fall apart on the ground. Immediately the four of them froze up, unable to make another move. A few seconds after the crash they heard an angry, but very shrill, voice shouting. 

"You stupid piece of junk," it said loudly, "can't you do anything right? Pick up a crate and place it on a pile, is that really so difficult for you to understand!" 

Curious as to what was going on the two Chosen and their partners crowded together at the end of the stack of crates they were hiding behind and peeked around the corner. A golden colored gear-like digimon, flanked by two dull metallic ones, was shouting to a grey metallic suit. It walked on two legs, had a square body with a hole for one eye on the front. On top was a dome which could give entrance to the inside. Both sides of his body had a large grappler for arms. 

"That's a Mecha Norimon," V-mon whispered to the others," the golden gear is Solarmon and the others are Hagurumon." 

"Mecha Norimon are pretty stupid so they aren't really a threat to us," Wormmon added," but Solarmon isn't." 

"Then we have to wait for them to move before going on," Ryo surmised. After a lot more shouted and hitting the poor Mecha Norimon, who just stood there taking the abuse, another crash occurred at the other side of the warehouse. Solarmon sighed, gave further orders to the robot digimon then raced of to inspect the other problem. Taking this as their cue to go, the four interlopers raced past the opening between crates. Wormmon was proven right, the Mecha Norimon didn't even notice them passing. Knowing now that digimon were working in the building they were even more careful crossing the large hall. 

Another discouraging sight waited for them further in, where the crates and boxes were beginning to thin out. Lines after lines of green armored vehicle-like digimon were stationed at the back. Their lower bodies were tank-like, going up was a green body with large canons for arms. The heads looked like those of a crocodile, only mechanical. Instead of a snout they had the barrels of cannons.  An army of Tankmon was waiting for orders to be sent into the city. It became clear that Mugen Dramon had some big plans, none of them seemed good. It also became painfully clear that they couldn't get to the other end of the warehouse now and they let out a sigh of disappointment. 

"Hey look," Wormmon whispered suddenly, pointing to a small door in a wall a few meters away from them. Carefully they used the remaining few boxes to get to the door unnoticed. Silently opening it they could only hope that there wouldn't be a digimon waiting for them on the other end. Luckily there wasn't so without wasting any more time they got into a badly lit passage way. Directly to their left was an opening to a small room filled with junk. But the hallway, only a few meters wide but very long, continued to their right. Keeping low to the ground they saw that the hallway ended with another door. In front of it stood another robotic digimon, this one was a lumbering bulk of reddish metal, a Guardromon. 

"Guardromon is a bit smarter then Mecha Norimon, but not by much," V-mon explained softly, "still we won't be able to get past him without him sounding some sort of alarm."

For a moment it looked like they would have to start fighting, which would mean that the entire security force of Mugen Dramon would be upon them. Looking to the small room Ken suddenly got an idea, smiling he told the others that they should follow him. 

"Halt," said the Guardromon, his voice a dull sound, "state your business." 

"We are new here," Ryo said, trying not to display any misgivings to what he was doing, "we are from maintenance. I am, uhm, metal Ryomon." 

From at his side Ryo heard someone stifle a snigger. Guardromon's eyes scanned their bodies, taking in their appearances. He started with the one who spoke to him. Starting at the top he saw to antennas on what looked like a an old cooking pan, underneath was a soot covered face, blue eyes looked at the Guardromon while it was doing it's scan of the 'digimon' in front of him. Going lower the 'digimon' wore metal plating on his front and back, held together by leather belts. Under the plating he notices a purple colored fabric. Two arms were covered in soot, ending in white clothed roundings holding a large metal spoon on one side and on the other a large metallic fork. The legs were of a brown material, covered with metal and leather belts. Finishing his scan of the digimon designated as "Metal Ryomon" he continued with the others. 

"This is Mecha Kenmon," Ryomon stated, pointing at one of the others with the fork. Mecha Kenmon had blue hair, sticking out from under a large frying pan. His face was also covered in soot, but his vivid blue eyes seemed to sparkle even stronger. Like his larger counterpart he had metal plating covering his front and back and held together with belts. A lighter purple was visible underneath the metal. The arms of this digimon were black with soot, even the ends which both held screwdrivers. Metal plating was strapped to his legs just like the other one, only the upper parts showed brown material underneath the lower legs were soot covered. 

"We now come to TV-mon," Ryomon continued, getting a glare from the TV-mon for a second. The next digimon was blue where he wasn't covered with metal and old equipment; on his head he wore a very old and defective television. 

"And this is Walkmon," the one designated as Ryomon said, gesturing at the last one. This one was green with a many legs; each of them had a belt strapped around them. With an old biking helmet on his head and a serving tray on his back he looked as weird as the others.

"Identities recorded, you may proceed," Guardromon droned on, before stepping away from the door. Quickly the four of them went through it, holding their breath the entire time. When the door closed behind them they let out a relaxed sigh. 

"Wow, I didn't think that would actually work," Ken said, then froze when the other three whirled on him. 

"What do you mean you didn't think it would work? This was your plan!" Ryo whispered harshly. When Ken said he had a plan he was willing to follow it, the kid had been right with a lot of things before. When he found out what the plan was he had his doubts, but Ken pleaded that it would work so he went along with it. And now here he was hearing that Ken didn't actually believe in it either.

"Well it always works in cartoons," Ken said, facing Ryo with his innocent blue eyes. Ryo sagged, instantly reminded that though Ken was pretty smart he was also very young. A nasty little voice in his head said that he wasn't that old either, but he silenced it. 

"You got it from a cartoon?" he asked quietly. 

"Sorry, but at least it worked." Ken said. Their digimon, not familiar with the concept of cartoons, just watched the exchange silently. Though they didn't know what a cartoon was, from the reactions of their human partners they could deduce that wherever Ken got the idea from it wasn't the best thing to stake their lives on. And that it was actually a miracle that it had worked in the first place, but taking into account that Guardromon aren't generally the smartest digimon around maybe it wasn't so strange at all. 

"Right, let's just go on." Ryo voiced, looking around himself. They were in another hall, this one running crossways from the one the one they just left. On either side, a good fifty meters in either direction, was another door with a Guardromon in front of it. Deciding that if it worked once it could work again the four silently decided to try again.

"Lead the way Ryomon!" V-mon said, sniggering at the name Ryo had chosen for himself.

"Shut up TV-mon," Ryo said testily, making V-mon frown at his new name. 

These Guardromon proved to be even easier to pass then the first one, which was probably due to them thinking that any intruder would have been caught by now. They didn't even pause to consider the new digimon's strange appearances or their not so common names. That didn't mean that the four undercover Chosen had complete freedom in their actions, not everyone was as stupid as the Guardromon and Mecha Norimon. 

"You fools!" Screeched a Solarmon to a bunch of Mecha Norimon, it wasn't clear whether the Solarmon was the same as the one in the warehouse or someone different. They were in a large hallway connecting several buildings with each other. Hearing the Solarmon, a digimon who was clearly smarter then the other machines around them, they suddenly started to stare in interest at the wall away from the gear digimon. 

"What do we do now?" Ken whispered, fearing getting caught at this point. 

"Nothing, just be quiet," Ryo replied, walking on slowly as to not draw any attention to himself. All the while Solarmon continued to scold the bungling automata, but his attention wavered as he saw the foursome slinking of. 

"Hey, you four!" He called out to them, effectively stopping them in their tracks, "quit slacking of and get back to work!" 

Luckily he left it at that and went back to driving on his crew of grey metal digimon. Ryo and the others wasted no time in getting away from Solarmon and the hallway. 

"That was really to close for comfort," Ryo whispered when they were once again alone, this time walking through a smaller passageway, almost completely dark except for some light given by faulty lamps in the ceiling. At a distance of ten meters between each of them it meant that the light given of was very sparse.  

"I thought for a moment it was all over," Ken replied. 

"But it didn't," V-mon said, "that Solarmon was to busy criticizing everyone to really pay attention."

"But will it be so easy the next time?" Wormmon questioned, worried that they would soon get caught. 

"There might not be a next time," Ryo said, glancing about trying to focus his sense of direction, "I think we are close to Mugen Dramon's inner sanctum."

"I think you're right," V-mon said, "the entrance to the tower should be close by."

The four quickly traversed the dark corridor, past more then one room and went through several other dark passageways, finally coming to an unguarded door at the end. Checking out the lock revealed the door to be unlocked; grasping the doorknob Ryo carefully opened the door for an inch and looked through the crack. 

The door opened to another room, this one was pretty big filled with high-tech machinery, no doubt used to monitor the power plant when it was still operational. By the looks of things that hadn't been since the structure arrived in the digital world, all the machines were covered with dust and some looked a bit damaged. Still it was more modern then anything they had seen in the base so far. The room was lighter than the passageway they were in, light was able to enter through a couple of windows at the ceiling. Looking up through a window in front of them, they saw the gray stone of the tower Mugen Dramon used for a home. Luckily for them there was no one there, no doubt because none of the digimon desired to be close to the mechanical tyrant. 

Ryo and V-mon entered the room, then turned around to face Ken and Wormmon who were still standing in the dark passageway. The brown haired boy looked at the younger boy a bit sadly, not wanting to hurt his feelings but desiring to keep him safe as well. 

"What is it Ryo?" Ken asked, a nagging suspicion creeping around in the back of his head. 

"This is where we part ways Ken," Ryo said, barely able to keep his eyes trained on Ken's wide blue eyes, looking at him with mixed emotions. He almost gave in to them, letting Ken come with him, but he couldn't do that, not if it meant he might die. 

"What?! What do you mean? We're a team, we are going to fight Mugen Dramon right?" Ken voiced. 

"No Ken, " Ryo said, trying to fill his voice with as much authority he could muster, "It's to dangerous, Wormmon can't evolve and a child has no chance against something like that monster."

Wormmon winced at Ryo's words, knowing that the Chosen was right but still he didn't want to be reminded of it.

"I don't want you to get hurt," Ryo continued, "so stay here with Wormmon and leave when things get ugly."

"But Ryo," Ken started, but Ryo didn't give him time to finish.

"Ken! Do this for me please," Ryo said, kneeling down so he could look Ken in the eyes, his hands rested on the boy's shoulders.

"Alright Ryo," Ken said dejectedly, but Ryo managed to produce a smile.

"Hey, don't worry about it," he said, "we are still a team, it's just that this is something I have to do alone."

Standing up again he took hold of the doorknob and with a  final look at Ken he closed the door, separating them. 

"Let's do this V-mon," Ryo said firmly, taking his blue digivice with white trimmings out of the pocket of his pants and holding it tight. Together the boy and his digimon traversed the room and found the large door leading to the tower of the nuclear power plant.

The inside of the tower was huge, easily being able to hold ten Mugen Dramon's with plenty of space to spare. There was no ceiling, several hundreds of meters in to the air the tower simply opened up to the sky. While there were some machines scattered about on the ground and beams and walkways hang higher, the entire place was empty. On one side, to the left of the only doorway if you ignored the large hole in the wall at the exact opposite end of the door, was a large window. On the other side was a control room, permanently manned by two gear-like digimon, Solarmon and Hagurumon. They were in charge of the communications array, whose systems were in that control room. Well, they used to be in charge, a dark cloaked figure ran the show at the controls now, little bits of data of the former digimon still floated around him. 

"Now let's see what you can do against this opponent, Akiyama," the Master said with a terrible grin. Looking through the window he could see the large form of Mugen Dramon facing of against the two figures that had just entered his chambers. Mugen Dramon is a very large dragon, completely made out of metal of a dull grayish coloring. He has strong hind legs, a metallic skull pattern on his knees. Wires ran over parts of his body, connecting several subsystems with each other. His tail was big and strong, ideal for crushing objects behind him with. He had long cybernetic arms, ending in sharp claws at his left arm and a pincher claw at the left. His head was almost square, the opened through the middle by his mouth, filled with razor sharp protrusions. Wires went from his neck to the sides of his mouth and then inside. Two black holes in the helmet showed nothing within, but they still served as eyes. On his back he had two enormous cannons.

"I told you I was not to be disturbed," Mugen Dramon bellowed when the door opened and two figures entered the circular structure. 

"Well excuse us your Lordship," the taller one said, the sarcasm clearly audible. Taking a closer look at the two digimon who were being impossibly rude to him, he noticed quickly that something was afoot. Lowering his head he let out a great sigh. 

"Chosen, I should have known," the tyrant said, lifting his head to look at them, an evil glint appeared in his black eyes, "you two look ridiculous, even more so then that goggleboy from last time, what was his name? Oh yeah, Taichi."

"Well, it worked in getting us in here," V-mon said, shaking of his disguise while Ryo did the same. The soot still made him a bit dirty, but at least he could move freely again. 

"No doubt, those fools wouldn't notice an intruder if he had the word 'intruder' branded on him in bright shiny letters," Mugen Dramon said. So far things weren't going the way Ryo had expected, the dragon had made no move against them and seemed only interested in making smalltalk. 

"But enough of this," the cybernetic tyrant continued, "You are here to destroy me, just like the others the last time. Only Wargreymon doesn't appear to be with you now."

From what V-mon had told him about the downfall of the Dark Master Mugen Dramon, this Mugen Dramon's predecessor, Ryo knew that Wargreymon was responsible for his defeat. However this one seemed to talk about it like it had happened to him and that wasn't possible. V-mon was having some bad vibes about this Mugen Dramon as well, it didn't act the way it should, acting more like it was the real Dark Master and not his servant with a power boost. _Evolving must have made Gigadramon insane, the blue digimon thought. _

"We don't need Wargreymon to beat the likes of you, Dark Master Wannabe," V-mon boasted. To the surprise of both of them the Ultimate started laughing, his voice bellowing through the structure. 

"You fools have no idea who you're facing, you think I'm that fool Gigadramon? I am the original Mugen Dramon, the Dark Master."

"What?" Ryo and V-mon chorused, worried that maybe their opponent wasn't lying about his identity, however impossible it sounded.

"Shocked? You haven't forgotten that digimon, even evil digimon, get reborn in Primary Village?" Mugen Dramon mocked, his metallic face taking on an impossible grin.

"No way, there's no way you could have gained enough power to go to Ultimate already!" V-mon shouted, still convinced that the dragon of steel was lying. If he wasn't, well, taking on a servant evolved to power was better then fighting a real Dark Master. 

"Under normal circumstances you'd be correct," Mugen Dramon admitted, "however I'm aware of a very special technique. When Gigadramon evolved he was stupid enough to almost blast himself to pieces, I merely helped him correct that mistake and regained what was mine." 

"Data absorption," V-mon whispered, remembering the name of the forbidden technique he learned when studying with Gennai. It was a way of gaining the power of a defeated foe by absorbing their data fragments directly into your own body. Once done the digimon doing the absorbing gets a lot stronger, taking the data of an Ultimate could in theory be enough to bring that digimon to Ultimate as well. The downside, and the most important reason it is forbidden, is that an absorbed digimon is trapped inside the absorbers body and doesn't get reborn. Theoretically killing such a digimon would release the data so all of them would be reborn, but in practice it didn't happen and the digimon were lost forever. Something to do with data corruption, Gennai had explained to him. Research about it had been cancelled when the technique was forbidden and presumably forgotten by all but Gennai and his trusted associates. Obviously they had been mistaken, the Dark Masters had also been aware of the existence of absorbing data. 

"Exactly," Mugen Dramon said at V-mon's realization.

"Don't tell me he's telling the truth," Ryo muttered. 

"He is, " V-mon replied, then got a determined look on his face, "V-mon evolves to…V-dramon."

A blue dragon now stood aside Ryo, but still the metallic dragon towered high above him. The Victory Dragon gritted his teeth and got into a battle stance

"I see you're willing to begin," Mugen Dramon stated, looking evilly at the digimon who was two levels beneath him, "but you won't get far at that level."

"We shall see," V-dramon snarled. 

"Excellent," the Ultimate said, turning his head to the window of the control room, not aware that it wasn't his two servants who sat there, "notify the base we have intruders, but that I'll take care of them and they should not interfere." 

Turning back to Ryo and V-dramon he asked his opponent if he was ready, V-dramon replied by charging at him. 

Relaying Mugen Dramon's message through the base the Master wasted no time in destroying the communications console when he was done. 

"Now no matter what happens this fight will not get interrupted by the Dark Master's stupid lackeys," he said, taking one more look out the window. V-dramon had been quickly knocked away by Mugen Dramon's claws and was flung quite a distance away. The metallic dragon turned to Akiyama, holding the boy captive with his malicious glare. The Master frowned, if he had analyzed Mugen Dramon correctly he wouldn't kill the boy yet, wanting to savor his revenge against the Chosen, but if he was wrong then Akiyama would be a dead man and that was not as planned.

"Watch as I destroy your digimon," he threatened, "you will experience his death before you follow him."

Leaving the boy alone he made his own charge at the blue dragon, who responded by firing his trademark attack, the V-breath Arrow, at Mugen Dramon's chest. The attacked fizzled harmlessly against the metal plating. With another swipe V-dramon went flying again. Turning his back to the fight he left the control room. 

"They won't last long," he muttered, taking a dark egg from his robes, "not unless someone intervenes. And I know just the person to do it."

Time went by extremely slowly for Ken and Wormmon, who were still waiting in the dark passageway like Ryo wanted. It could only have been a few minutes since they were left alone, but it seemed like hours. Ken wanted nothing more then to go and help his friends, but at this point he knew that he'd only complicate matters. Though he said it rather bluntly, Ryo was right in that his digimon couldn't evolve. _Maybe it's not working because it's not my digivice but Osamu's_? Ken thought, even though he had heard time and again that it was his digivice and not his brother's.

"I wish we could help Wormmon," Ken muttered to his companion. 

"Then maybe I can be of some assistance," a mysterious voice said before Wormmon had a chance to respond to his partner.  

Unknown to them another figure had made its way into the passageway from the other side, now they were standing with their backs to the door their friends had went through. Now that they were aware they weren't alone it wasn't all that hard to discern another form in the darkness. It was only noticeable if you knew were to look since all that could really be seen was a difference in the overall darkness. 

"Who are you?" Ken asked, with a barely hearable mutter of  'what are you' from Wormmon.

"Who or what I am are not important," the voice said, an air of coldness seemed to come from it, "what is important is that I can be of help to you."

"Why would we need your help," Wormmon asked harshly, while Ken asked for how he could be of help. 

"At this time your superiors, Akiyama Ryo and V-mon, are fighting a losing battle with Mugen Dramon," the shadow explained, making sure to accentuate the superior bit as if to spite them. Letting them realize they were on the bottom of the food chain he knew it helped him to strengthen his position over theirs. 

"And in your current condition you won't be able to save them," the dark form continued, feigning a sigh, "such a pity your digimon is so weak."

"Hey, Wormmon is not weak," Ken objected, but the shadow noticed the slight uncertainty in the boy's voice, obviously the thought had also crossed his mind, excellent. Wormmon lowered his head, the digimon had doubts about his own power as well. The shadow smiled under the hood of dark cloak, this was going to be even easier then he had expected.

"Then why can't he evolve? Every Chosen digimon has been able to evolve to adult after being together for about two weeks," he said calmly and rationally, purposefully making it harder for the two to simply dismiss his words. Ken's eyes were now downcast, as were those of his digimon. 

"But like I said, I can help you," the form continued, closing the distance a bit but still staying at a distance of about two meters. He could now be seen by them as a fully cloaked humanoid of about Ryo's height. Little did they know the mind games this shadow was playing to get them to agree with his help. He knew they would agree no matter what, but should they survive it would help undermine their confidence. Chosen without confidence were such interesting creatures, able to be molded into whatever plot imaginable, but that wasn't truly important right now. Most likely they wouldn't live through the day, but when dealing with Chosen Children it always paid of to have a backup plan. 

"There's not much time left, even as we speak Mugen Dramon could kill Akiyama Ryo." 

"How can you help us?" Ken asked, _Hook_. 

"There is a way for your digimon to evolve into a more powerful form," the shade said, "I won't guarantee victory, but you will be able to help your friends. I'm sure you've heard of the digimentals."

"You have a Digimental?" Ken said, a flicker of hope in his eyes. With a Digimental Wormmon could evolve and they would finally be able to be of a real help in battle. _Line_.

"I do," the shadow said, taking a black egg out of his robes and showing it to them. The darkness set of warning lights in Ken's mind, but by now they didn't fully register to him, only the help this stranger offered really mattered. He couldn't just let Ryo and V-mon die if there was a way to prevent it. 

"Do you want my help?" The stranger asked, the neutral tone giving the boy an indication that if he didn't take it now the offer would be forfeit.

"Yes," Ken said, _and Sinker_.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" V-dramon involuntarily yelled out when he was again thrown into the air by the metallic titan. He couldn't remember how many support beams he had hit, but judging by the number on the ground it had been a few dozen to many. They were only decorative, since they didn't hold up anything and the walls of the tower went on for quite a distance before opening up to the air. Snidely V-dramon thought that they where only there so he could get thrown into them. 

During the course of the battle, if you could indeed even call it that, he had made a few hits on the Ultimate with his V-breath Arrow, but the attack didn't work very effectively. Parts of the armor now had dents, small ones, in them and one time he had managed to destroy a red wire at the beast's right arm, but he went on like nothing happened. 

V-dramon had been more on the receiving end of the damage dealing, though it wasn't as severe as it could have been the blue dragon realized. The metallic Ultimate was only playing with him, keeping him alive only as long as things didn't bore him. And by the looks of things the big dragon wasn't enjoying himself as much as before. 

_Damn_, V-dramon thought as he hit the ground hard, his head reeling from the impact. He was close to the door they came through and to Ryo who was standing close by the exit, his face twisted in anger. V-dramon realized what his position meant, he was going to die here. At first Mugen Dramon had kept the boy and dragon apart, so Ryo wouldn't get hurt in the crossfire. That would seriously shorten the Ultimate's revenge and that just wouldn't do. Now that he was back with his partner it could only mean that the Dark Master was ready to take his vengeance. 

"Ryo run," V-dramon grunted, trying to get back to his feet. If he was going to die here he was at least going to buy Ryo some time to get away. With time the boy might be able to find a way to deal with Mugen Dramon and if he was gone then no one would be able to stand against Chimeramon when he makes his appearance. Ken was a good kid, but V-dramon doubted that he would be able to stand up to something like this.

"I'm not leaving you V-dramon," Ryo said stubbornly, his digivice clenched in his hand. Sticking partly out of the Chosen's pocket was the D-Terminal. _If only we had been able to fully gather the Golden Digimental_, the Victory dragon thought wistfully.

"Any last words?" Mugen Dramon asked, bending over to aim his large cannons at him. 

"Fire Cloud!" A voice shouted from above them, a second before a large ball of fire impacted and exploded on Mugen Dramon's back. Angered by this surprise attack the dragon reeled up, forgetting about his other prey for the moment he focused on this new target. 

A humanoid figure hung several meters up in the air, holding what looked like a large match with a red head. He wore a baggy red suit which hung loosely around his body. It was a one piece costume, covering his legs with baggy pants and going up to cover his torso, but not his arms or neck. His arms were a brownish grey and extremely skinny almost down to the bone. A golden bracelet covered only a part of his upper arms, his lower arms and hands were fully covered by two large red gloves. The ragged shoulder patting of his suit wasn't fabric at all but fire. Flame motives covered other parts of his red attire, as did several belts, some leather and some not. A large match with a blue head was attached to the belt on his waist. 

The digimon's head looked like that of a scarecrow, the skin the same color as his arms. His mouth was sewn together by stitches, but he could still open it wide enough to speak. On top of his head he wore a large pointy hat, reminding Ryo of Sorcerymon's only this one was red. Several small rings adorned the hem of the hood and a pair of goggles hung around the top of the hat as well, resting on the wider hem.

"Why don't you try me on for size," Flawizarmon boasted, holding up his free hand and beckoning Mugen Dramon to make a move. 

"Why you…Infinity Cannon!" The dragon roared, his cannons firing a powerful blast at the floating wizard. Fazing out before the blast hit he managed to avoid the deadly plasma, instead it hit a wall creating a large hole. Appearing in the air behind Mugen Dramon the wizard aimed his match, his version of a staff or a wand, at the large Ultimate.

"Is that the best you've got?" He taunted before firing another cloud of fire at his opponent. Ryo, now hunched close to V-dramon's form, could only look on in wonder as this new digimon was fighting against this almost unbeatable opponent.

"Ryo, V-dramon," Ken called out, the door closing behind him. 

"Ken? What are you doing here, I thought I told you to stay back?" Ryo almost shouted out, but managed to curtail his volume. At least before he had known Ken stood a chance of getting out alive, but now?

"I had to see how you were doing and how Wormmon was holding up," Ken said, looking a bit ashamed to have disobeyed Ryo's wishes. 

"Wormmon?" V-dramon asked, Ken pointed to Flawizarmon. 

"How did this happen?" Ryo questioned softly.

Making his way through the collection of buildings that was Mugen Dramon's hideout the Master encountered no opposition. Keeping a fast pace he passed through mostly unused corridors and rooms. With the battle going on again he had no intention of hanging around to see how it ended, either way it was out of his hands now. Staying here could only lead to his undoing, especially if the place blew up. And it would blow up, of that he was certain. And with players such as these the game could only end in a big bang, one he wanted to witness at a safe distance. 

_The poor boy_, he mused, _it wasn't hard to play on his feelings at all. He had attributed the fact that Wormmon couldn't evolve to the digimon's power level, saying that he was a weakling. Ken, as well as Wormmon, had believed him as they had similar thoughts. The truth was completely different, the fault didn't lay with Wormmon but with his Chosen. The process of helping a digimon to evolve with a digivice was a delicate one, tying in deeply with the emotional state of the Chosen. If he was angry or driven by other emotions typically called dark, then the evolution could go bad, a Dark Evolution. In this case it was Ken's doubts that prohibited the flow of energy to reach Wormmon. Whatever the reason was, and the Master didn't care about such specifics, it was Ken's doubts and inhibitions that kept his digimon's power back. _

Soon it wouldn't matter though, the Digimental of Darkness would see to that. Being partnered with a Chosen meant that Wormmon was protected against an invasion of the mind, instead keeping his original personality and loyalties. Maybe a bit quicker to anger and a bit malicious, but otherwise he wouldn't show any of the usual traits of the armored evolutions of the Digimental. There was one thing the Digimental could still do however and it was doing that right now. Corrupting the digimon's code so he truly couldn't evolve anymore, at least not without being reconfigured in Primary Village, which meant he would remain a child until death. That would be the price they both had to pay for his help, a valuable lesson in dealing with evil. 

Dealing with the dynamic duo, Ryo and Ken, over the past two weeks had thought him they had the eerie ability to get through almost anything. Should they survive this encounter it would seriously weaken them. If Ken ever got over his doubts then the evolution wouldn't be hampered anymore, but with this incursion that problem was fixed. 

"Good luck," he muttered, "you're going to need it."

"So this guy shows up and makes Wormmon evolve," Ken summarized quickly, while Ryo frowned more with every passing word. It's not that he didn't appreciate the sudden help, but it made him really suspicious. 

"Stand still already!" Mugen Dramon shouted, drawing their attention back to the battle. Using his phasing ability Flawizarmon didn't stay in any one place for long. His fire attacks hit the android dead on, but being an armored digimon his power was still that of roughly an adult, so the level differences still applied. Another blast roared through the air where a moment ago Flawizarmon had been floating. By now his tower had several holes in it, the strong structure of the power plant couldn't withstand the power of Mugen Dramon's infinity cannon. 

Flawizarmon raced through the air, circling around his target at high speed. Spreading the fingers of his free hand the wizard of fire summoned a small blue flame on each of them. Bringing his hand back he made a throwing motion at the dragon beneath him, sending the blue flames downwards. 

"Magic Ignition," he said, though calling out his attack wasn't necessary anymore. The small flames packed a surprising amount of power when they impacted with the metallic skin of Mugen Dramon. Scorching parts of the armor on impact their secondary explosion blackened the metal around their contact point. It wasn't enough to seriously hurt him, but the Ultimate was now getting quite annoyed with this game. His left claw shot out at the flying obstacle, but Flawizarmon disappeared before it could hit him. 

The wizard appeared somewhere else, high up in the tower to recuperate for a moment and gather his senses. He knew that while he could keep the Ultimate busy like this for a while longer he couldn't stop him. 

"I have to sabotage him somehow," He muttered to himself, visualizing Mugen Dramon in his mind. After only a few moments he realized what he should do, if he could take out the cannons it would weaken the creature severely. Fazing out of view again, he commenced his second attack-wave. Reappearing behind the now furious Mugen Dramon he raised his wand, firing another torrent of flames at the left cannon on the dragon's back. The inferno hit the digimon hard, but the damage remained minimal. Fazing out again when the Dark Master turned his gaze toward him he managed to avoid yet another swipe in his direction. Deciding to take a risk he fazed back in, close to Mugen Dramon's cannons, hoping that a shot at this range would have more effect. If he was lucky he might just see a weakness by coming in so close, but considering his luck he sincerely doubted it. 

Rising back to his feet V-dramon watched the battle of Flawizarmon versus Mugen Dramon in awe. _Never knew he had it in him_, he thought. So far Mugen Dramon hadn't been able to land a single hit on the bug turned wizard, his speed far surpassing that of the big tyrant. 

"He can't win this," Ryo said softly, his eyes trained on the battle as well. 

"You're right," V-dramon replied tiredly, "Wormmon is fighting incredibly well, but the difference in power is still too great."  

"So what should we do then?" Ken asked, "Retreat?"

"Where to? Mugen Dramon would never let us go and even if we did escape we'd only allow Chimeramon to swoop in and claim his prize." Ryo said, rubbing his temples. The only reason they were still alive now was because Flawizarmon proved to be a good distraction for the Ultimate, but with shots flying around everywhere it was only a matter of time before either a stray shot killed them or Mugen Dramon decided to finish them off while the magician was still flying around.

Watching the battle unfold they saw Flawizarmon reappearing at the dragon's back flying forward. Racing through the space between the giant cannons he shot fire from his wand at one of them while throwing blue flames at the other. Reaching the front of the cannons he changed his trajectory, shooting straight up, while Mugen Dramon's head snapped at him. Another blast of plasma shot upwards, but the flying digimon had already fazed out again. 

"He's trying to destroy the cannons," Ryo deduced. 

"Smart plan, it might just work. Still that last run was pretty risky, at one point he won't be able to escape," V-dramon said.

"He can make it," Ken said, pride at his digimon's actions clearly audible in his voice.

The sky cracked by the loud sound of thunder, at least that's what it sounded like from a distance. Close to Mugen Dramon's lair, the true source of the sound, things were evidently different. New fires had sprung up where the plasma bolt from the infinity cannons had hit the buildings after coming out of the large tower. The tower itself was full of cracks and large holes, the strength of the structure severely undermined. Many of the dragon's servants were becoming worried and wanted to check things out. However they had been ordered not to and disobeying such orders was a quick way to be deleted, so they could do nothing till the order was retracted. 

In the confusion no one noticed a dark figure leaving the premises, never once looking back at the place. He didn't have to, as long as the Digimental of Darkness didn't return to him and the sounds of battle kept up he knew that Mugen Dramon was still fighting against Ken's dark-armored digimon. The Master grinned, his face still hidden in the darkness of the cloak he wore, though the day would soon come that disguises would no longer be necessary. Those fools inside, both the Chosen and Mugen Dramon, only focused on their little battle, not knowing that their true undoing was approaching rapidly from the east. 

"Soon things will truly get interesting, I can hardly wait."

The figure of the wizard hung in the air for a moment before phasing out, a metallic claw now in his place. Reappearing, he only had a split second to disappear again, his afterimage being penetrated by a huge mechanical tail. A blast of plasma shot through the air, making Flawizarmon phase out again to reappear in another place. 

"Can't…" He said before fading from view again, "you…" and he was gone again, another blast of energy racing through the location he was just at.

"Just…" Flawizarmon continued saying while teleporting himself all over the place both by magic and speed, though the speed itself was also magically enhanced it was all Wormmon could do to focus on it. He had almost no experience in these kinds of fights, though he was learning fast. The Digimental seemed to fill he head with the knowledge of how to use his powers, but there was a darker side to it he just didn't trust. _Ken, what is this thing trying to do to me_? He wondered in mid-teleport. The power he had felt incredible, but so very wrong at the same time. He knew he had to finish this quickly. 

"…stand still!" He shouted at Mugen Dramon.

"Why don't you stand still for once?!" The dragon replied, trying to swat the wizard out of the air with his claws like it was a nasty Flymon. This went on for a short while, Flawizarmon would appear somewhere in front of Mugen Dramon, the dragon would lash out with a claw and the sorcerer would vanish again. It was annoying the cybernetic titan greatly, but Flawizarmon was beginning to get tired of this endless disappearing act as well, he really wanted to rip this foe apart, limb from limb. _What am I turning into_? Wormmon's mind thought in the body of Flawizarmon. Now he really knew he had to hurry and finish this. 

Higher up in the now wrecked tower he showed himself, hovering in the sky looking down at Mugen Dramon. His free hand went to his belt and he took forth his other staff, the match with the blue head. 

"Fire Cloud times two!" He shouted, aiming both of his wands at Mugen Dramon he shot two huge balls of fire, one red and the other blue, at the dragon. 

"Infinity Cannon!" The dragon retorted, his own attack easily taking care of the incoming fireballs. Wiping the attack out of existence the energy bolts continued towards Flawizarmon. Dodging them by flying rapidly to the side, he never stopped aiming at Mugen Dramon. 

"Fire Cloud rapid fire," he called, once again shooting fireballs from both his staffs, but these were a lot smaller and a whole lot more. Like a rain of flame the balls, red and blue, impacted with the metal dragon, obscuring him from sight with small explosions and smoke. It was only a small fry for the Dark Master, however Flawizarmon was just using it as a distraction for his real attack. Fading from sight he reappeared, standing on Mugen Dramon's back, between the large cannons. 

"Fire Cloud," he shouted for the third time in less then a minute. Holding the ends of the two matches close to the outer casing of the left cannon he watched as the fires from both of them enveloped the large weapon. He kept it up till he felt himself lowering somewhat, realizing it was Mugen Dramon who was bending down slightly. _Now what is he up to?_ Flawizarmon wondered briefly before finding out.    

Bucking like a wild horse it took a lot of effort for the wizard to remain standing on the erratic dragon, who was moving about at random. Suddenly he heaved his body to the side and the sorcerer lost his balance, his back crashing into the right cannon he was flung from the tyrant's back and into the air. In his surprise he released his grip on his blue staff, sending it flying in another direction as the momentum of the push drove Flawizarmon further. Frowning at this discomfort the wizard faded out of view again to reappear momentarily in front of his wand, disappearing again as he grabbed it. 

Fully armed again he took a moment to observe the results of his action. The cannon was still there, but looked damaged now, it wouldn't take much more to destroy it. Mugen Dramon might even do it himself if he kept firing with it. 

It might take longer then he liked but at this rate he could take out the dragon piece by piece, little by little. Noticing for a moment his own breathing he realized that it wasn't labored or anything, just a calm rhythm he always had. _Why am I not tired? I should be after all of this, I've never moved this much or this fast in my life, he thought, then shrugged it of as a side-effect from using that strangely dark Digimental. _

Coming out of his thoughts he noticed that part of Mugen Dramon's anger and frustration had vanished, he even looked slightly smug now if the grin was any indication. He wondered why, the dragon hadn't been able to land a real hit on him since the battle began. Flawizarmon figured that the dragon must have thought he was tiring. He didn't hear the voice of Mugen Dramon's system diagnostics speaking in his mind; _Scan 99% complete, finalizing setup_.

Not liking the sinister grin on the dragon's metallic face one bit Flawizarmon rushed forward, intend on taking down one cannon right now. 

"Infinity Cannon," the dragon roared, knowing that he'd miss of course, but that didn't matter. The wizard dodged the incoming blasts and continued towards his target. The results of the blast weren't lost on him as he saw the smoke coming from the cannon he had damaged earlier, this was truly his chance. 

"Magical Ignition," the wizard said, bracing himself in mid-flight to throw his wand. Feeling the flames that formed on his fingers, which were closed around his wand, he saw them travel to the top of the match. 

"Ignite!" He shouted when he came really close to the dragon, then threw the match into the left cannon before fazing out. 

"What the…?" Mugen Dramon started when he saw the blue match enter his cannon. A moment later he knew when the entire cannon assembly exploded on his back. 

"Aaargh!" He roared, seeing and feeling that his left cannon had been completely destroyed. The rage he felt at the little digimon was incredible, he wanted nothing more then to pay it back for this humiliation. No digimon of such a low level had ever been able to damage him like that. It was then that his systems gave him the message he'd been waiting for, _setup completed, targeting sensors adapted. Thank you, and have a nice day. _The last part sounded sinister, even to Mugen Dramon. 

Looking over at the wizard he saw him fazing out again, but instead of disappearing his adapted sensors saw a blur moving rapidly towards him. _I was right, it's not teleportation but increased speed, the dragon thought, suddenly bringing a claw in the wizard's path. The blur that was Flawizarmon veered to the right, attempting to get away from the claw. Mugen Dramon wouldn't allow him, bringing up his right claw to block the dgimon's path. Flawizarmon veered again, this time coming in the path of the titan's remaining cannon. He was able to dodge the incoming shot but as he flew away he was suddenly swatted by Mugen Dramon's arm. Dizzily he noticed that he had stopped moving when he was hit, then he saw the claw coming at him again. He was hit hard, harder then ever before. The momentum he gained through the impact send him flying towards Ryo, Ken and V-dramon. For a moment the wizard blacked out, but he came to when he hit the ground close to his friends, noting idly that he was Wormmon again._

"Wormmon!" Ken shouted worriedly.

While Wormmon had no recollection of what happened when he momentarily blacked out, the others had. In his fall Flawizarmon's body had become completely black, then a dark beam shot away from him and he became his child form again. They were all shocked to see their last hope fall, even more so as they recognized the devolving process. _The Master, but how_? Ryo wondered, regretting that he would never find out now. 

A scraped Wormmon got back on his many feet, looking at the Ultimate Digimon that was about to finish them all off. 

"You fought pretty well, but you just can't win against me," Mugen Dramon boasted, taking a menacing step forward. "It was obvious you pathetic Chosen were going to lose from the beginning. You should have just given up, at least then you'd still be alive. I could have let you live on as my slaves, but now…"

Wormmon and V-dramon stood protectively in front of their Chosen, but they lacked the power needed to truly protect them. The dragon's taunting words hung in the air, mocking them still, increasing their anger. If they had given up, refused to come here, they wouldn't be this close to  their deaths. But if there's one thing they hated it was giving up. An urge to refute the Dark Master's claim filled the both of them and they didn't hesitate to act on it. _Consider it our last words_, the two Chosen both thought as their mouths opened.

"We are Chosen! We'll never give up!" Ryo and Ken shouted at the same time, both now having the same convictions. A blue light formed around the older Chosen's digivice while a green light appeared around Ken's. Surprised by this none of them noticed a very faint golden light coming from the D-Terminal in Ryo's pocket. Now both of their digimon were incased in the same light as their respective partner's digivices. Their forms, now made of energy, raced towards each other and when they hit they fused. A new digimon stood in their places, one who had a lot more power then the two of them had before.

Author's Notes:

And to be continued! Sorry for this, but oh well, you'll find out what's going to happen next time. Don't really know when that will be however…

Writing this chapter, and especially the disguised forms, I realized that I couldn't recall ever having really described what Ryo and Ken look like. Maybe it is in here somewhere, but it's just too much to check right now. So, just to make sure that there is some concrete mention of what they look like, here it is:   

Ryo: Wears a short-sleeved vest, light purple in color. The insides and lining are of a darker shade of purple. The shirt has two pockets in the front at the chest. Ryo wears long brownish pants, white sneakers and white gloves. He's twelve years old in this story. 

Ken: Ken wears a short-sleeved t-shirt, but of a lighter shade of purple then Ryo's. He further wears brown shorts and light teal sneakers. He's nine years old in this fic, seeing as in digimon 02, which takes place in 2002 he was eleven years old. Or at least he is in the Japanese version. Going by what Foxkids showed in the dub he was thirteen years old in 02 so here he would be eleven. In that account Ryo would have to be fourteen. But since this goes by the original version, Ken is now nine years old and Ryo twelve.  

In the episode "Genesis of Evil" of the second season of Digimon they can both be seen for a few seconds. In this story they are wearing the clothes shown there until and unless I state otherwise. 

Translations: Japanese to English

Guardromon  = Gardomon

Mecha Norimon = Mekanorimon

Thanks everyone for the reviews, keep them coming, keep them coming. As for some comments on the reviews, yes things are coming to a close. At least, the first story arc will end in a few chapters, but the story continues right here with a lot more chapters. The "1" in the title does give a bit away about a possible sequel and in hindsight it might have been better to neglect it altogether. But what is done is done, and I'm not going to change it now. The "1" will remain as a little teaser for later. As for specifics, well, at this time all I'll say is: That's a secret ^_~   

Edit: Eek! Made a mistake, made a mistake! For everyone's information this is actually version 2 of this chapter. Thanks to a review by Akino Ame I was alerted to making a grave mistake with Ryo's appearance, accidentally making his eyes brown instead of blue. So, I've fixed it and re-uploaded the chapter. If there is something I can't stand it is to make mistakes like this. Thanks a lot for pointing this out to me ^_^

If there is anything else wrong I'd really like to know, either by review or e-mail, so I can fix it. Can't believe I actually made that mistake (typos are one thing, but THIS)…gonna have to go through the previous chapters to see if I made the same mistake there. I don't think so, this is I believe the first time I've mentioned Ryo's eye color. Here I was trying to be as accurate as possible with their ages and I do something stupid like this. Oh well, I can keep on ranting about this for a long time, so let's just leave it at this.  

Preview of the next Chapter:

While things look bleak there is also a chance of victory, will the fused form of V-dramon and Wormmon be enough to take down Mugen Dramon? Whatever happens it will have to be quick for the final player is ready to arrive on the scene and if that happens things will truly heat up. 


	16. A chance for Victory

Disclaimer: Would anyone believe me if I said I owned digimon? Didn't think so.

Chapter 15: A chance for Victory

Ryo's log: August 2000, Server Continent, Mugen Dramon's hideout. 

Mugen Dramon, even more dangerous than we had previously imagined, engaged in a battle with V-dramon. But it became painfully clear then that the full metal dragon was only toying with my partner. All seemed lost when Mugen Dramon got bored with his game and was about to finish V-dramon off when another digimon appeared on the battlefield. Flawizarmon, Wormmon's armor evolution with a digimental, used his power to draw away the Ultimate from V-dramon. I wondered how Ken got his hand on a digimental, but at the moment that was the least of my worries. Though the armored digimon fought bravely the difference in evolution-levels clearly showed. I got a nasty sight when Mugen Dramon knocked Wormmon out of his Flawizarmon form, a beam of black energy shot away through the door behind us while Wormmon, once again in child form, fell on the ground close to us. Black energy similar to what the digimon of the Master left behind. If we survive this I'll have to have a serious conversation with my young protégé. 

Mugen Dramon taunted us, but though we looked defeated we told him firmly that we would never give up. Then a miracle happened.

End log.

The tower, holes shot through the walls allowing daylight in, was a horrid sight. Once it had been Mugen Dramon's throne room, the center of his base of operations, but now it looked more like Swiss cheese. The ground was partially hidden by dust clouds and metal support-beams. During the battle things had been wrecked almost beyond recognition, all during the battle against Mugen Dramon.

"We'll never give up!" The two boys shouted obstinately. Around both their digivices a light formed. Around Ken's old grey model a greenish glow appeared. Likewise Ryo's blue D-3 digivice also glowed with light, a calming blue hue. The boys stared at their respective digivices in wonder, nobody noticed the third glow. The Golden Digimental, though not complete yet, shone with a golden light from the D-Terminal, adding its power to the ensuing evolution process.     

"V-dramon," the Victory dragon said, his bruised and scraped body surrounded by a blue light. The light seemed so serene, yet powerful, making him stand more proudly in front of this near unbeatable foe. 

"Wormmon," the caterpillar echoed, a green light emerging around his own beaten form, similar to the one around his Chosen's digivice. Slowly their bodies turned to energy and started to hover. 

"Jogress evolve in," they chorused before their energy forms circled closer and closer towards each other while rising into the air. With a bang they united, giving all of them their first look of a jogressed digimon. 

"Paildramon," the fused digimon said, his voice an eerie bland of both V-dramon's and Wormmon's though V-dramon was slightly more pronounced. The new Perfect level digimon was a lot larger then V-dramon had been, though still not as large as Mugen Dramon. His face was covered by an insect-like mask, black and red in color with two holes to reveal his red eyes. His body was muscular and human in form. His back and sides were blue, like V-dramon's skin and like V-dramon his front was white. 

The blue V of V-dramon's body was gray on his chest and had two extra pieces under the V, giving it the form of an X. Over this he had green plated armor, shaped like a vest opened in the front. He had black bands on his shoulders, equipped with metal spikes. His upper arms were bare, showing that they were blue like V-dramon's were. His lower arms however were covered by black armored gauntlets ending in clawed hands. The top part of the gauntlet had a cylindrical barrel from which a grey spike emerged. His upper legs were also covered in black armor, leaving his lower legs free. At both his sides he had two large guns attached to his waist. On his back were two pair of wings, both reptilian looking. The upper pair was slightly larger than the lower one and blue, the lower pair was silver. All in all, the new fused warrior was a very formidable looking digimon indeed. 

Excited by this turn of events Ken suddenly found himself in a hug with the older boy. Hugging each other they jumping around in joy forgetting for a moment where they were. For a while things looked lost, but now that V-dramon and Wormmon amazingly enough had fused they might just have another chance. Realizing their closeness, but not caring about it, they hugged for a moment longer before separating. The boys looked at there digimon and Mugen Dramon with triumphant smiles. 

"What's this? How could you two possibly fuse together?!" Mugen Dramon shouted out in surprise. He had them both beaten, he couldn't believe this turn of events. Gritting his metallic teeth he took in the form of this fused digimon, scanning as much of it as he possibly could. Though angered at what the two upstarts had managed to do he knew they were only at Perfect level and still didn't stand a shadow of a chance against him. He ignored the skeptical thoughts about what one adult had managed to do with his cannon and continued glaring. 

"How we managed to fuse is none of your business," the double voice of Paildramon said, "all that matters is that you are going down."

"Go get him Paildramon," Ryo and Ken chorused, feeling their hearts beat as one, their emotions overlapping. 

"Yes, come and get me," Mugen Dramon said, "then I'll show you how empty your threats really are." 

The large perfect got into a fighting stance, seemingly readying himself to charge the metallic ultimate. Other than that Paildramon gave no sign of making another move anytime soon, all he did was make a stare-off with Mugen Dramon.

"No Mugen Dramon," the perfect said, "you will see how empty YOUR threats are. We are much more powerful then we were before and are enough to beat you."

The dragon growled, annoyed with Paildramon's slander at him. Aiming his remaining cannon at his fused opponents he made sure that the alignment would make the blast go through the Chosen after deleting the obnoxious bug. The warrior widened his eyes in realization at what the dragon was up to. 

"Infinity…" The dragon started saying, energy building up inside his cannon. Quickly Paildramon turned around, feeling the murderous gaze of the Ultimate on his back. 

"…Can…"

Grabbing his Chosen, taking care not to hurt them with his claws, he pressed them to his chest and bent his knees. 

"…non!" Mugen Dramon finished, the energy of his attack rocketing forward from his cannon at his opponent's back. The plasma fire, though still a few seconds away, seemed to burn the air around it, making the warrior feel the approaching heat. The attack exploded on impact with the ground, sending up flames, smoke and gravel, but it missed the fused warrior who was even now flying up to one of the holes punctured in the tower wall. 

"Get back here!" Mugen Dramon shouted, firing another round of plasma into the air, missing its target yet again. Angered he stormed after the three who had left his tower and his wrath.

"That was really to close for comfort," Ryo remarked, watching yet another one of the dragon's shots miss them. He shuddered to think what might have happened if the Ultimate had retained his second cannon. The blast made yet another hole in the tower wall, and then the three of them flew through one of them and away from the tower. Paildramon knew he had no chance of winning in such a confined environment, but out here he had the advantage that he could fly unrestricted. The giant warrior touched down on a street not to far away from Mugen Dramon's base, but hopefully far enough.

"You stay here while I take care of him," Paildramon said after putting his Chosen down. 

"Good luck Paildramon," Ryo said putting a hand the warrior's armored leg, looking up his eyes seemed to say "Don't die." 

Paildramon nodded and Ryo stepped back allowing the digimon to turn back to the cooling tower, which seemed to be shaking on its foundation. A large part of the lower wall burst outward and the dragon of metal stepped out into the open sky. 

"Time to finish this once and for all," Paildramon's strange dual voice said. Taking of into the air again he grabbed hold of his two large guns, aptly named his "Desperado Blasters", as he moved towards this final battle. 

Ryo however couldn't seem to shake off the notion that whatever happened now didn't matter anymore. On an impulse he looked behind him into the east, but he could see nothing except a cloudy sky and a ruined city. He frowned, why did he keep thinking that something _was_ out there?

"Ryo?" Ken asked, "What is the matter?"

"Nothing Ken," Ryo said, looking at his teammate and friend. "I hope," He added in a whisper.

"Infinity Cannon," Mugen Dramon roared, a searing blast of energy greeted the warrior opposing him. 

"You think you're so tough because you can shoot? Well take this! Desperado Blaster!" Paildramon shouted down, targeting the dragon beneath him with his twin guns. Shot after shot of energy bullets ricochet of the steel body of the Ultimate. While the attack didn't seem to have a visual effect on Mugen Dramon the dragon did feel it and was annoyed by it. 

"Booster Claw!" The dragon shouted, firing of his claw towards the nuisance in the air. Paildramon evaded it easily, but had to make another quick dash to avoid getting hit by a subsequent shot from the titan's cannon. Retracting his claw back to his main body Mugen Dramon bared the shots fired by the Desperado Blasters. 

_This is getting me nowhere fast_, Paildramon thought, _but what to do?_

Within the dual mind of the fused digimon two voices were busily discussing strategies. 

"_We have the advantage of maneuverability if we stay up here", Wormmon said. _

 V-dramon agreed with that, but, "_Our long-range attack isn't dealing him enough damage."_

"_So what do we do then? Get in closer?" Wormmon asked, already knowing the answer V-dramon was going to give. Sharing a mind didn't leave a lot of room for privacy after all and while talking wasn't really necessary they found it easier to bear then 'thinking' to each other. The whole experience was kind of freaky, but good at the same time. Slowly they learned how to separate their thoughts and their memories, but some had already flown over. _

"_Yep," the Victory dragon replied._

"_By the way," Wormmon said slyly, and V-dramon would have frowned if he still had his own body, nevertheless their shared body displayed both the worm's mirth and the dragon's discomfort, "_it's nice to know you've finally given up your prejudiced against me for being viral. I wasn't sure before this, you were acting nicer to me but that could have been a courtesy towards Ken_."_

"_Yeah well, just don't mention it to anyone else. I have a reputation to keep up." _

"_Sure V-chan." _

"_Grrr, don't push your luck virus."_

Plunging down to the ground Paildramon clenched his fists as he streaked past another blast from Mugen Dramon. The spikes on his gauntlets started to charge themselves with energy, a bluish hue appearing around them. 

Increasing his speed as much as he could the warrior prepared himself to use a nifty combo attack, combining his Elemental Bolt and Esgrima attack. V-dramon grinned under his Paildramon head mask and even Wormmon was sharing the enjoyment. Even though the situation was life threatening Paildramon couldn't help but get a kick out of it. Not all that surprising when you combine a virus' natural violent tendencies with a Victory Dragon's lust for battle.   

Banking out of his rapid descend Paildramon dodged Mugen Dramon's claws as he flew over the metal tyrant. Turning his body in his flight he shot of his two pikes at his foe's remaining cannon. The pikes, still connected to the warrior's arms by strong cables, pierced through the outer plating of the large gun, lodging them there. Simultaneously they discharged their electric charge which immediately started coursing through the dragon's circuits momentarily paralyzing his large frame. 

The Dragon Man took this time to take a firm hold of the cables and began pulling on them, trying to rip the cannon straight of the digimon's back. The pikes remained lodged in the cannon allowing Paildramon to use his phenomenal strength to the fullest. Mugen Dramon, slowly shaking of his paralysis, wasn't exactly happy about this. Roaring, the dragon turned partially around to face Paildramon.

"Booster Claw," Mugen Dramon shouted. He was truly pissed off now, feeling his weapon slowly being torn from his body. 

The claw shot at Paildramon who in his current condition had no chance of avoiding a hit. 

Ryo and Ken could do little but watch as their digimon was struck hard by the overly large claw in the distance. They both winced when Paildramon was thrown back, his two pikes ripped out of the cannon by the sudden momentum. Though the cannon was still on the titan's back even at their distance they could see that it wasn't as firmly lodged there as before. Sparks came from big gun, even some trails of smoke. 

The sound of Paildramon impacting with a deserted building rang over the battlefield and Mugen Dramon couldn't help but look pleased. This fight hadn't been going the way he had expected it to, but now it seemed like it was finally over. 

"Oh no, Paildramon." Ken said. He was about to run to the fallen warrior when Ryo stopped him, the younger boy looked at him questioningly.

"Don't go, you'll only make things worse," Ryo said, "you should know that by now."

"Oh yeah, right." Ken said apologetically. He had let his emotions get the better of him again, but seeing Paildramon, who was both their digimon, getting hurt was just too much to bear. Ryo looked at the sight painfully, wanting nothing more then go to Paildramon himself. But barging in now would only make things worse for all of them_. I can't stand being nothing more then a cheerleader when we do battles. I'm completely useless, can't even give my partner any kind of help when he really needs it, he thought bitterly. He clenched his fists angrily, the only way he could vent his frustrations right now. He noted faintly that Ken was looking at him, so he released his fists and managed a small smile._

"Don't worry, Paildramon isn't out of the fight yet." Ryo reassured his protégé.

Ken who was still turned to his friend was about to reply when he suddenly froze completely. His eyes widened in shock at something behind them. The brunette wasted no time and turned around as well to see a not to welcoming sight.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Solarmon questioned, an evil kind of smirk plastered on his face.

"Ugh, that hurt," huffed Paildramon when he made his way out of the rubble of the building he had crashed into. He felt horrible, but things could be worse, much worse. He was still alive and able to continue fighting. But a few more of those hits would surely finish him off, he had no doubts about that. 

At the end of the street stood Mugen Dramon, seemingly waiting for him to get back on his feet. Obliging the large dragon he brushed a few chunks of rock and other debris off his body, then got back into a fighting stance. 

"You really think that's going to work?" Mugen Dramon called over.

"Hand to hand combat? No," Paildramon said calmly, "but this might." Quickly his hands moved to the two guns at his sides, bringing them up in a second. "Desperado Blaster!"

A new rain of bullets impacted with the tyrant's metallic skin, some ricocheted off the hide without doing much harm to it, but others did cause some damage. Not much, but the armor of steel was getting a lot of dents and it was only a matter of time before the bullets from Paildramon's guns penetrated the skin properly.

With a roar of anger the dragon came in motion, running at the Dragon Man at top speed. Relinquishing his continuous fire for a moment Paildramon bent his knees and pushed off against the ground taking to the sky. Mugen Dramon's claw passed through the space previously occupied by Paildramon. Now in the sky it was easier for the warrior to continue the fight. At the moment Mugen Dramon could only use his claws to attack, not daring to utilize his remaining cannon. His actions, though he was rewarded with an almost crippling blow, had destabilized enough of the systems to leave it at least temporarily out of action. 

The dragon roared again, this time more out of frustration than anything else, though the angry undertone remained. Not surprising, Mugen Dramon seemed to be fueled by a permanent anger aimed at just about everything. 

Ryo scowled at Solarmon, the digimon leading the group of robots that now surrounded them. The gear-like digimon was flanked by two Guardromon just a step behind him. Other cybernetic digimon of the Mecha Norimon and Guardromon variety were all around them. All of them combined couldn't even come close to their own intellect, but one order from Solarmon and they would shoot them to bits. _So, no easy getaway this time, thought Ryo._

"I knew there were intruders out here," Solarmon stated boastfully, "and I captured them, humans no less, Lord Mugen Dramon will be pleased." He would have continued bragging if Ken hadn't interrupted him.

"Lord Mugen Dramon will soon be dead," he said wickedly, even managing a smirk. Ryo felt a lot of admiration for the boy then, even though the situation was grim he wouldn't let it get to him. Solarmon looked shocked, either because he had been interrupted in his victory speech, someone had dared speak up or because someone had just stated his master's demise or all of them together. Even the thickheaded robots had realized their prisoners were not acting the way they should and had raised their arms, which contained their weapons, accordingly.

"Silence!" Solarmon bellowed.

"Why should we?" Ryo taunted.

"Because…" 

"Because what?" Ken said quickly. The older boy smiled, Ken had caught up with what he was planning. A dangerous gamble, but one that might work, they had to try and distract Solarmon to catch him of guard. Both him and his guards. It had worked before when they had been harassed by some digimon in a small village who claimed they had stolen from them. Of course they had been innocent, but that didn't seem to matter much to the local populace. That had happened just a few days after leaving Tama City, the one place he did steal from. With some skill they had managed to talk them around deleting them on the spot till V-mon and Wormmon, who had been elsewhere at the time, returned. Suffice it to say that no one was willing to deal with an angered V-dramon so they had the chance to make a run for it. _Still wonder who was responsible for that theft_, Ryo couldn't help but think, _I bet it was that Chuumon, he looked a bit to shifty to me._

The incident wasn't worth much thought now only that it was another sign that Ken did know what he did that night in Tama City. When the accusations came the boy had looked at him, his eyes asking the unspoken question if Ryo really had nothing to do with it. That look still weighed heavily on his conscience, but he suppressed the thoughts for now.

"Because I…"

Ryo was quick to interrupt, "You? I thought this was about us?" He pointed to himself and to Ken.

"It is." Solarmon said in surprise.

"Then why are we talking about you? Did you do something?" Ken asked, throwing the discussion into the other direction.

"Me? No it is you who…"

"But you must have done something otherwise you wouldn't have brought it up." Ryo stated simply.

"But..."

"You'd better speak up now before it is too late," said Ryo, still as calm as ever.

"Stop this," Solarmon started," we are here to bring you in not talk about my problems!"

"So you admit to having problems?" Ken asked.

"No."

"But you just did, you said we shouldn't talk about your problems, which means you have some." Ken voiced.

"But I," Solarmon tried to speak, but it was clear he had no idea of what was going on.

"Oh I get it now," Ryo said like he had figured out a big secret, "you don't want to tell your problems in front of these other digimon. Why would that be? Of course, they are loyal to Lord Mugen Dramon and you are not!"

"You're a traitor!" Ken shouted, pointing his finger at Solarmon accusingly.

Immediately all weapons were aimed at the golden gear digimon. Solarmon almost seemed to turn red with anger, glaring at the two boys with all the rage and indignity he could muster. He didn't leave it at that, his own men got an eye full as well.

"You fools!" He screamed, "They are trying to trick you, they are the enemies of the mighty Lord Mugen Dramon! Kill them!" 

They had gone too far, or not far enough, Ryo wasn't sure which but by this point that didn't matter. The weapons of the robots all turned back to them to the immense satisfaction of Solarmon, who couldn't help but gloat. Ken looked scared, he didn't want to but he just couldn't help himself. Ryo grimaced at the leader of the robots, but was determined not to show any signs of fear. _I won't give any of them the satisfaction, he thought. _

"Destruction Gre…"

"Twinkle Bea…"

Before the robots could finish, or even start their attacks a greenish pressure wave descended in a circle around the two humans, keeping them out of harms-way. The digimon weren't so lucky, being burned by the heat and squashed by the immense gravity it was all they could do to keep together. Some of the Mecha Norimon were the first to go, turning into data particles before their bodies were pressed together. Solarmon didn't hold out long either and moments after he died the rest quickly followed. Though the torment seemed to last forever it was all over within seconds after it started.

The two boys looked around in surprise, wondering who or what had saved them. Looking up they saw a horrible sight, the digimon who had saved them descending to the ground, landing in front of them. Both Ryo and Ken were rendered speechless, their mouths gaping open.

"That was a dangerous game you were playing," the chimera digimon said with an amused undertone," you were lucky I came along."

Chimeramon looked down at the two Chosen in front of him, they were afraid and weren't hiding it. The shock of his appearance and the fact that he had rescued them was probably too much to handle. The Chimera smirked, he so did like to see the fear his power instilled in those weaker than him and even in those stronger than him. Soon though, there would be no one stronger than him, his power would be whole and they would be together.

"Soon," he said, looking at the Chosen and the older one in particular. "We will be together forever, you and I." 

With that the beast flapped his wings and took of into the air again, this time staying closer to the ground than he had before. The gust of wind brought about by the digimon's take off knocked the two humans down onto the ground. Still there they watched him fly towards the battle of Mugen Dramon and Paildramon.

_Mugen Dramon_, Ken thought fervently, _he's going after Mugen Dramon_!

Ryo had similar thoughts, but couldn't shake the thought that Chimeramon had been talking about him and not the metallic dragon, how stupid that might sound.

Meanwhile the perfect and the Ultimate digimon were still fighting each other, not aware of what had transpired to the Chosen boys. Not aware that one that would be the greatest threat to date was almost right on top of them. Had the metallic dragon known than he would have run, or at least should have. Unless Paildramon could destroy Mugen Dramon this instant the two who were destined to fuse together would meet. But Paildramon couldn't destroy him that easily and Mugen Dramon would not run.

"Come down here," Mugen Dramon bellowed as the energy bullets from the Dragon Man's gun continued to impact with his skin. Already parts of his armor were punctured, but he refused to show any discomfort to his foe, he would not yield.

"Aw, can't the big bad dragon get little old me?" Paildramon taunted. Maybe not the smartest thing to do but he just couldn't help himself. The dragon roared with rage, shooting both his claws at Paildramon. The warrior evaded both of the projectiles, but found himself closer to the ground because of it. 

"Infinity Cannon," Mugen Dramon suddenly exclaimed as a blast of energy shot towards the Dragon Man. Surprised that his opponent's cannon still worked he was unable to avoid it. It hit him straight on, knocking him back and into another wall. When the dust cleared there were two small digimon where a larger one should be. 

"Finally," Mugen Dramon huffed, the use of his damaged cannon had taken more out of him than he had at first thought. 

"No," Leafmon, a small green digimon with a large leaf for a tail mumbled, barely able to stay conscious.

"Ryo, Ken, we've failed you," a blue blob, Chicomon, said weakly. 

"Can't believe a bunch of rookies like you managed to give me so much trouble," Mugen Dramon stated.

"Truly pathetic," A cold voice, strong in its evil, spoke up from the sky. "You dare call yourself a Dark Master, ha! If I didn't need you to complete my power I would have deleted you on the spot."

" W-what?" Mugen Dramon said, outraged that someone dared to speak to him like that.

"You're a disgrace to all the Dark Lords, but luckily I can remedy that," Chimeramon voiced, the threat in his cold tone was undisguised. The beast seemed to smile, chilling even Mugen Dramon to the bone. Chicomon and Leafmon could only watch the exchange in silence, their part in this was already played. 

"Heat Viper!" 

While Chimeramon was only a perfect level digimon and Mugen Dramon an Ultimate the latter could not defend himself against the attack. The flames of hell tormented his skin, melting the armor in parts of his body. Pain wrecked through his frame, even more then he had felt when his cannon exploded. The impact launched his body through several buildings. In his torment he vaguely observed that he had never felt so much power before, at least not directed at him though War Greymon came to mind. Was this what his Infinity Cannon felt like to those he had hit?

Grunting he looked up to see the chimeric beast flying towards him. He wanted to fight but he couldn't bring up the energy to do so. 

Chimeramon landed partially on top of him, bringing his horrid face close to the dragon's. 

"We will be one, you and I, but I will be the one in control while your spirit will be dispatched to the four corners of our shared mind and the Digital World."

In that moment, knowing that this time his death would be forever, Mugen Dramon was truly afraid. 

"Jogress evolution," Chimeramon stated simply, drinking in the fear of his unwilling fusion partner. A wind, chilling to the bone, rose up around the pair, blowing away from them and through the city. Dust, rocks, boulders, everything was lifted around them as the howling wind reached its crescendo. Chimeramon's body shone with a sickening green light, similar to the flames of his Heat Viper. Flames also formed around them, forming a dome of pure green fire to shield them from sight. 

"Yes!" The shout of triumph could not be contained by the wall of fire or the howl of the wind. Buildings toppled, ruins were blown away, by the backwash of power. As sudden as it had begun a loud explosion ended it all, the flaming dome expanded before bursting apart frying every building that had remained standing. And there in the axis of disaster stood a single large form where two had been. Chimeramon was gone, Mugen Dramon was gone, but out of their fusion a new being was formed. One who had waited for centuries, almost since the beginning of the Digital World to gain this power. Power to achieve his goals, to claim what was denied him so long ago. All of them would know him and tremble, all would fear him and worship him, but most of all, all who had opposed him would be destroyed. 

"Gennai," he whispered, grinning like a madman, "the one survivor of the Order. Sovereigns, rulers of the Digital World who denied me my right. I've returned."

With a loud roar, sounding surprisingly like "Ryo", the Chimera God of Destruction and Hate folded space around him and disappeared. Leaving behind the merest ghost of a ruin, Machine City was gone, in its place a scorched plain filled with rubble.   

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the long delay, six weeks I think it was. I had hoped to post this chapter a month ago, but do to some unfortunate exams that was not to be. Then I had my vacation in which I was cut of from the internet for four whole weeks. Rest assured though, the next chapter will not have so long a wait. 

Translator: Japanese to English:

Jogress Evolution = DNA Digivolve

Chicomon = Chibomon

Chan = A honorific title. This title is used most often by and for children, it is also used by friends who are very close or who have grown up together. Siblings may use the affectionate chan title instead of the traditional titles. 

Why did I use 'chan' here? Well, it sounded quite cute and it would certainly annoy V-mon. It also isn't completely wrong either, they are friends after all and you just can't get any closer to a person than they were at that time right?

Preview of the Next Chapter: 

Millenniumon has been born and things have truly heated up. Will the Chosen be able to stop him now and what of the Master's role in all this? 


	17. Dark God Rising

Disclaimer: Digimon doesn't belong to me, for more details see all the other disclaimers.

Chapter 16: Dark God Rising

Ryo's log: August 2000, Server Continent, Blighted Fields formerly known as Machine City.

Things seemed to be looking up, Paildramon made some great moves against Mugen Dramon. Unfortunately the dark Ultimate still proved too much for the Dragon Man, his armor to dense to easily penetrate. 

If that wasn't worse enough, Chimeramon arrived on the scene. Though he did save Ken and me from a group of machine digimon he fulfilled his evil intentions and fused with Mugen Dramon. That was a Jogress unlike any I've ever seen, granted I've only seen two but this one was beyond horrible. I guess it's all over now…

End Log.

The sky was in turmoil, dark clouds laced with lightning raced through the air. A cold wind roamed the Digital World, a wind not felt in millennia. Ironic, using the word millennia since that was so close to the problem. Gennai sighed, saddened that this is what it was coming down to. He remembered the darkened sky and the wind from when he had first come to the Digital World, so long yet not long ago. There were more then he knew, but now he was alone to keep up the charge. And he was failing.

He looked at his hands, took in his diminutive body. He was getting old, old and senile. Letting out a barked laugh the old man walked onto his porch. While he could have gone home, well he felt it was like home, he had remained in this hidden house close to the Eternal Desert. His beautiful house in the lake was his favorite residence but he felt like staying close to the action this time. 

"Oh Millenniumon, why couldn't you just understand," Gennai said wistfully," he was too young, bringing him would have killed him and you."

Fingering a white slightly rounded object in his hands, he sighed again. It was a Digimental, the Digimental of Light to be precise. Made so long ago it was one of the only things he had to remind him of a past long gone, a life lived out. Clasping it solidly in his hands he closed his eyes as he felt the slightly pinkish light shine from the object to envelop him. 

"Yes, there is still time," he said seemingly to himself, "but the question is how much time exactly."

Gennai looked to the sky once more, the very sight of it saddened him. Not just because of this crisis but of what had set it in motion. The sky would clear in time, a day or two at the outmost and things would look blue again. The further away from Machine City the sooner the air would be normal again. Hopefully they would all live long enough to see it and Millenniumon's end. 

Before the Dark Master's had changed the world to reach Earth and in doing so brought extra data the site of Machine City had been that of a grassy plain, some woods here, some rocks there. Now with the coming of Millenniumon the circle had been completed, restoring the land to plains. But the grass was scorched, if not completely burned. Instead of forests there were a few surviving ruins, instead of rock were piles of rubble. 

One of these piles moved, stone slabs falling to the charred ground.

"Ugh, that's the second time I've had to dig myself out," a disheveled looking boy muttered to himself. Surveying his surroundings Ryo realized that he was lucky to even be alive. Speaking of which…

"Ken, hang on for a moment longer," Ryo said to the debris beneath him. 

"I'm trying to," was the strained answer from beneath the junk. Removing some more stones to free his companion the niche in the dirt was brought to light. Gingerly the younger boy took Ryo's hand and freed himself fully from his stony prison. 

Standing now on the ground, dirt he realized, Ken was shocked to see the place changed so much. The buildings were gone, small ruins were all that remained of the once vast capital of the Machine Empire.

"How?" He muttered, finding it hard to believe one digimon could hold so much power. Or was it just the energy released by the fusion? It didn't matter much seeing the end result.

"I never believed anything like this was possible either," Ryo said.

Ken nodded in agreement then suddenly looked up with wide eyes.

"Oh no, where is Wormmon? And V-mon?" The boy said in an almost panicky sort of voice. Ryo didn't know but didn't believe they were dead, he would feel something if they were right?

"Let's go find them," Ryo said, taking a look at his digivice. For some reason the LCD screen was blinking rapidly. He looked at it as two pictures alternated with each other. He couldn't make them out, but after a few moments V-mon's picture reigned supreme_. I wonder what happened_. 

Taking his eyes of his blue digivice he could see Ken was already running towards the place Paildramon had been fighting at earlier. Quickly he sprinted after the younger boy. 

"Wormmon! Wormmon! V-mon!" Ken shouted, hoping for a reply. While the two digimon were fighting they had increased the distance between them. Ken was sure that Paildramon had intended it that way so the two of them wouldn't be hit by a stray blast. Now it only meant that finding their digimon would be all the harder.

As far as Ryo could tell the fighting was taking place at least a few hundred meters further. Running along side his young friend he took Ken's hand and ran faster almost dragging the boy behind him. 

The reached the site of a pile of rocks in a matter of minutes. Two colored dots, one green and one blue, sat there about halfway to the top.

"Wormmon?" Ken asked.

"It's Leafmon for now," the little digimon said. Hopping in his Chosen's arms he nestled himself there comfortably.

"V-mon, you look really cu…" Ryo was saying when the little blue ball cut him of. "Don't you dare say it. I hate this form."

"How can you, you're really cut…" The little Leafmon said, but like last time Chicomon interrupted the speaker before the c-word was out.

"I'm a warrior, strong and tough. I am not CUTE!" Chicomon huffed, his little face in a frown. It was such a ridiculous sight that the others could help but burst out in laughs. The blue baby digimon looked offended but managed a little grin too after a while. They really needed to laugh after the defeat they had just suffered, anything to keep their minds of it even if it was only for a little while. Ken looked into the air, vaguely aware that he was petting Leafmon on the head. The sky, which was always cloudy here, was darker then it had ever been before. Lightning streaked through the dense clouds at times, giving the scorched battlefield a sinister look. 

"That's it I guess, it's all over," Ken sighed.

"Certainly looks that way," Ryo answered, with a forced laugh he continued, "Mugen Dramon is gone, but not the way we had intended. We finally found Chimeramon and now he's gone to, also not the way we had intended. We couldn't stop the Jogress and now all is lost."

Ken looked even more down now, part of him had hoped beyond all hopes that the older Chosen still had a plan to stop all this. Now that he had admitted that all was indeed lost he couldn't shake the desperation he felt.

"Maybe not," another voice said from above them. Striding down from the pile of rubble the two digimon had been sitting on was an old man. Though he wasn't really there now, his image was partially translucent. 

"What do mean?" Ryo asked.

"I'm fine too, thank you for asking," Gennai said in a slightly mocking tone, but Ryo just stared at him impatiently. "Right, no time for joking. What I meant is that there is still a way to beat Millenniumon."

"So that's what he is called," Ryo said thoughtfully, thinking that the name sounded vaguely familiar. It almost felt right to him somehow.

"So how do we stop him then?" Chicomon inquired.

"Ah, how cute," Gennai said when the little digimon drew his attention, V-mon's baby form just growled.

"But back to business, in the prophecies it is stated that once the Dark God of Destruction is born only the Lone Chosen can defeat him by using something called "The Eternal Crystal" to bind the beast's essence."

The foursome waited for Gennai to continue, but when he didn't Ryo got impatient.

"And?"

"And what?" Gennai asked, genuinely in surprise.

"How do we get this damned crystal and how do we lock his accursed essence into it, of course! What else!" Chicomon shouted.

"What words from such a cute creature," Gennai said, visibly abased though Ryo and Ken suspected it was an act.

"And I am not CUTE!" The little blue digimon roared.

After everyone, namely Chicomon, had calmed down the foursome sat down to listen to Gennai's explanation. 

"The crystal is kept inside a forgotten temple somewhere in the Desert of Eternity, or as you youngsters have called it, the Eternal Desert. Both names can apply, the desert is certainly large enough to warrant such a name. There are others of course, like the Wasteland of Destiny's End, but those others really fit and…"

"Can we stick to the point," Chicomon said testily.

"Right, sorry about that. Anyway, I've already taken the liberty to program a map leading you to it in your D-Terminal," Gennai said, pointing at the device in Ryo's pocket.

"And how do we bind his essence then?" Ryo asked.

"It isn't stated how just that you can bind him with it," Gennai said calmly, never showing anyone that he wasn't telling the complete truth. He had learned over the years that sometimes it was better not knowing, keeping in mind the old proverb 'Ignorance is Bliss'. He still didn't like keeping his Chosen in the dark, but if they knew they had to destroy Millenniumon before they could use the crystal they might just decide to quit while they were behind. He knew they still had a slim chance, but only if Millenniumon's motives hadn't changed over the years like his form and power had.

"Well if this can help us then we have to try," Ken voiced.

"Yes, but there's a problem. The desert is two weeks travel away from here of foot. Maybe Paildramon could fly us there, but our digimon are too exhausted now to Jogress. Plus they need to keep up their strength if they are to fight Millenniumon and they can't do that if they have to fly us over half the continent!" Ryo exclaimed.

"Well, it's not nearly that far," Gennai said," but I get your point."  
"Wait!" Ken said, looking up from his thoughtful pose, "Airdramon could take us."  
"Who?" Ryo and Chicomon chorused as Leafmon's face lit up.

"That's right," the little critter said," he's the friend we made in Machine City. If he's still alive then he might be willing to take us there."

"If you flew then you could make it in a few days," Gennai nodded in agreement.

"Then we'll have to find him," Ryo decided.

"I believe you can find an Airdramon in that direction," Gennai said, pointing to some rock formations in the distance, "good luck my Tag Tamers."

"Tag what?" Ryo asks.

"Tag Tamers," Gennai confirmed," you two work together and when one isn't enough the other steps in, like a tag team. And the Tamers' bit comes from the fact that Ryo uses a digimon other then his own and you guys have managed to team up with many more. So, you're Tag Tamers, don't you like the name?"

"No, it's great Gennai," Ken said earnestly, _is he nuts_?

 "We'll be going then?" Chicomon ventured.

"Yes, we can't waste any more time," said Ryo, looking at the Gennai hologram which nodded its consent. "Just one more thing," Gennai said as his image started to fade, "you two digimon could use a little pick-me-up."

With that the hologram disappeared, leaving the foursome alone on the plains of ash. However true to his word he gave both Chicomon and Leafmon the energy stored in his holo-image. 

"Chicomon evolves to Chibimon," the blue ball changed into a smaller, and infinitely cuter version of V-mon. 

"Leafmon evolves to Minomon," following the acts of his fellow digimon, the green baby became a larva digimon in a brown cocoon. 

Looking at himself Chibimon frowned, knowing the horrid cute-factor that this body had. This was seriously damaging his tough guy reputation. However it wasn't to be helped, though he knew his energy would rise sufficiently to evolve to V-mon soon. Deciding to give the little blue guy a break the others refrained from making any comment. 

With their digimon in their arms the two Chosen let of for the rock formation and hopefully Airdramon.

In a secluded castle, once the proud home of the Order of Light, which Gennai was a part of and later the base of operations for the demonic Vamdemon, the air shimmered. Out of the distortion stepped a figure in a dark cloak. When the Chosen were searching for the eighth child, Yagami Hikari, the castle which was built on top of the Order's base and the Dimensional Portal, was mostly destroyed and later fused with Spiral Mountain. With the reformatting of the digital world however it was restored to its previous stature. 

Inside the underground chamber which houses the gateway the small figure of the Master walked towards another cloaked being. While the Master, though the other being would never acknowledge him as such, had an air of cold around him the other was almost seething, almost.

The second being wore a red cloak, his head completely hidden except for his completely blue eyes, which shone maliciously out of the darkness of the hood. Two curved horns sprouted from the sides of his head, like the two black demonic wings with claws that came from his back. A silver amulet, inscribed with mystical signs hung from a chain around his neck. Feared by all who knew of him and not seen in the Digital World in centuries, digital time of course, was the digimon who almost wasn't a digimon, Demon.

"What is this I hear Demon," the Master spoke icily, "you've decided to forgo on our bargain? You've stopped generating the time-space distortion field that was to keep the Chosen out of the Digital World?"

"You have betrayed me boy," Demon replied, just as icily, "a very unwise thing to do."  
"How have I betrayed you, oh lord," the dark cloaked figure said mockingly, "I've freed you from your prison in the World of Darkness as promised and for helping my master you'd get the location and identity of the one other digimon who had absorbed the dark energy of the Embodiment of Evil. How have I betrayed you?"

"Because your master is the digimon I was seeking!" Demon almost roared, "And now he has become almost as powerful as I am!"

"Almost?" Another voice, colder then ice, darker than twilight, black beyond the deepest pitch, said from thin air. As the air shimmered again, a sign that time and space was being folded, the form of the Master's master appeared. 

"I have surpassed you," Millenniumon said, "and now I don't need you to distort time and space anymore, I can do it myself."

"Do you want to find out who of us is the strongest in a fight, Millenniumon?" Demon sneered, willing to give it a try. Ignoring the demon in their midst for a moment the chimera turned to his servant, his lieutenant. "Find out what the Chosen are up to while I take care of some other business."

Nodding the cloaked humanoid turned around and left through an open passageway, looking for the perfect digimon to collect the information he needed. 

"I'm rather busy at the moment, maybe we can do this at another time?" Millenniumon asked, the false courtesy in his voice fooling no one.

"Fine, but you will lose in the end. And don't think your little pet boy is safe from me either." Demon said before opening a digital gate to another region of the digital world and stepping through. _I'll just let the Chosen take care of him, that's what they're there for anyway_, the demonic lord thought, _meanwhile I can execute my other plans. _

"We'll see," Millenniumon smirked. If things continued as they were supposed to then soon he would have no equal, not even the Harmonious Ones, those blasted Sovereigns, would be a match. Even now his power was among the greatest in both the Digital and the Real World and it wasn't even at its peak.

A crouching figure appeared on the ashen field, seemingly out of nowhere. A digimon, about a head taller then Ryo with a lithe frame scanned the area around him. He noticed quickly though that he wasn't alone, a heavily wounded Guardromon who was near deletion lay nearby. And the robot had noticed him. Seeing no one else around the digimon stood up to his full height and walked over to the robot. He was bipedal and had yellow fur, a foxtail and pointed ears. The closer he came the more damage he could discern on the fallen digimon. 

"P-please help me." The mechanical voice said tiredly. For a moment he stood impassively in front of the fallen robot, then balled a purple gloved fist. 

"Sure." He said viciously, "Wisteria Punch!"

Guardromon didn't have any time to react before the charged fist of the fox digimon crashed through his head. Acting as the final straw the guard digimon burst apart, his data quickly scattered on the field. 

_That was fun_, Renamon mused, but he wasn't here to have fun. Looking around again he sniffed the air, trying to find the scent of those he was looking for. However the only things he could smell were the remaining traces of the destruction that took place here. Trying his other senses he finally detected something different.

"Must be them," he said softly before breaking into a run, keeping low to avoid detection. Not that there was much chance at being detected, most of the digimon had left the area as soon as Mugen Dramon had started fighting Paildramon, when Millenniumon Jogressed many more ran or were destroyed by the backslash of power. For some reason more died on the edges of the explosion then in the center, but as to why that was Renamon had no clue. It wasn't his job to question stuff like that anyway. 

Abruptly he stopped, dropping down completely on the ground. In front of him were the ones he was looking for, though they looked a bit disheveled. No wonder of course after all that had happened. Renamon would recognize them anywhere, having followed them for a long while now. Not once, of that he was sure, did they notice being watched, nor did they notice now. Slowly he moved closer so he could listen in on what they were talking about, for the moment though they were pretty silent. 

"Fox Change Void," Renamon muttered, partially slipping out of their dimension making him invisible to any normal means of detection. Only digimon with truly heightened senses or dimensional abilities would be able to detect him now. It made tracking his prey more boring but also more effective and that was what he was going for, the effective approach. No use telling his master that he was unable to follow the Chosen because of foolish pride. Pride has no place in espionage, I'll show them my pride when we do combat one day, Renamon thought. Staying close to the Chosen he watched them greet an Airdramon, before trying to convince him to take them to the desert.  

"Can you please help us Airdramon?" Ken asked sweetly, giving the dragon his best puppy-eye stare. Ryo almost visibly winced, nobody ever stood a chance against that. It was almost playing dirty, but they really needed to get to the desert fast.

"Uhm, well I," Airdramon stuttered, it was obvious he wasn't feeling like taking them anywhere after having witnessed Millenniumon's arrival. However he was having a lot of difficulty in denying Ken his request. To make matters worse for the wild digimon, Minomon was now doing the same as his Chosen was.

Still hesitant about what decision to make Ryo interjected before anyone could say anything else.

"I understand your reluctance Airdramon, but if we don't get to the desert fast then the entire world will be destroyed. There is danger involved in helping us, I'll admit that, but if you don't then you and everyone else is already dead."

"Well, if you put it like that," Airdramon started, looking once more into Ken's pleading eyes, "I guess I can take you to the desert, but no further."

"Thank you Airdramon, that's all we ask for," Ken said with a smile. 

"Yeah well, let's just go then. The sooner this is over the better." Airdramon grumbled.

"Couldn't agree more," Ryo said, talking only partially about their upcoming fight with Millenniumon. The thought of having to fly on this dragon's back was far from reassuring. It was not that he was afraid of heights, he just liked to be a little more secure when hundreds of feet in the air, an airplane would have been nice, or Paildramon's strong arms to hold them, but this?

While he was contemplating his reservations on this idea Airdramon had lowered his head to the ground so they could get up. With Minomon in one arm and the other on the dragon's horn Ken was standing tall and firm on top of the bony head. 

"Ken, you should really be more careful," Ryo ventured. 

"Oh you worry too much Ryo," Ken said happily," I've flown like this before and it went perfect. Now you should get up here as well."  
Grouching Ryo complied and got on the Airdramon's back, behind the skull face mask. With Chibimon clinging to his hair he held the flyer's hair tightly in both of his hands. He wished Ken would be more careful, but he doubted the younger boy would listen to such advice. Still, if Ken got hurt he would blame himself for not warning the boy. Deciding to tell Ken to hang on tightly anyway Ryo was about to open his mouth when Airdramon suddenly spoke up. "Here we go!"

Before he knew it they were already soaring through the air. 

"We'll be going at top speed till somewhere tonight before resting," Airdramon rumbled, "we'll probably get to the desert in two or three days." 

Holding on tightly Ryo could only watch in amazement as Ken still rode the Airdramon like the boy had done so for years.

"And what have you found out?" 

The cloaked figure shrugged while continuing to look at a dark speck on the horizon which was rapidly getting smaller. "Apparently, according to my source, they've convinced an Airdramon to take them to the Desert of Eternity claiming they'll find something there that can defeat you."

"Really now? I can't imagine what that could possibly be," Millenniumon said thoughtfully, "but it has to be big if it's powerful enough to beat me."

"Should I stop them then?" The Master asked, knowing that if the chimera wanted them dead he could do it a lot faster if he did it himself. Still, forms had to be acknowledged even now, especially now.

"No, I find their chosen location fitting for our showdown. Another thorn in Gennai's side if I win where he saved the Digital World all those years ago, how delightfully ironic. Let them go there but try to slow them down till I've found out what they want there. If it's a weapon I might be able to use it, Demon backed of a bit to easily for my liking."

"I see. Do the old restrictions on me still hold? Or is it open season?"

"They hold." Millenniumon said before sending the Master to another section of Digiworld. Standing on the site of his 'birth' the chimera seemed lost in thought, wondering what it could possibly be that Gennai had sent his lackey's after. Was it something from the old days, or was it something new? He didn't know, but whatever it was it was bound to fail. Grumbling Millenniumon phased out of reality again.

Standing even further away then the Master had been to the Chosen was Demon. Millenniumon was right about one thing, he had backed of rather easily and for good reason. Almost as old as the Digital World itself he knew the value of careful planning. Rushing into things could only lead to disaster and fighting Millenniumon now was just too big a risk. No, it was better to ignore this new God for now while he focused on getting more power. 

Bringing up his arm he held out his palm. At first nothing happened but then a dark spot appeared in front of his hand. Expanding rapidly the image of a black chamber in a black castle in a colorless world appeared. While he could open a portal to the World of Darkness whenever he wants he couldn't do the same from in there to the outside. Some claimed that Dagomon, self-proclaimed ruler of the Dark Ocean, which consisted of about half of the World of Darkness, could open portals to the outer worlds. But the demonic ruler had never put much stock in rumors. He and Demon, who ruled the land of the Dark Area, had been at each other's throat since Demon was first cast there by the Chosen of that time. _Accursed Gennai_, he thought, but amused himself with the fact that the old sage was probably in over his head right now.

"Skull Satamon report," Demon said.

"Nothing much Sir," the skeletal digimon replied, "There have been a few minor skirmishes with Dagomon's forces with no serious results. Marine Devimon has been working with several water-type digimon to be able to fight Dagomon on his own turf one day."

"Excellent."

"Sir, when will you be back here? With you gone Dagomon may feel…brave enough to attack more directly." The skeleton carefully questioned.

"I won't be returning for a while but you will manage. When I'm done here that foolish squid will have no chance in hell of beating me, not even with the entire power of Darkness backing him up."

Walking towards the strangely quiet settlement the Master swept back the hood that had covered his face for so long. The cloak that it was attached to fell to the ground soon after, dissolving into useless data-particles as it hit the dirt. Soon other parts of his attire fell away, revealing clothing in lighter colors. It had been so long that he had hit under the guise of 'the Master' it felt almost strange to be himself again. 

He chuckled at the presumptuousness of himself in claiming that name, but after his unwitting pawns kept calling him that it seemed like a good enough alias. Now though was not the time for the Master's darkness, but another sort of guile.

The settlement was the home of a group of Vaccine digimon of the holy type, or so they claimed, they were actually Phantom Beasts, named Unimon. White horses with wings they had a red helmet, complete with a visor over their heads. 

"Halt, what are you doing here and what kind of digimon are you?" A Unimon questioned him as he entered the village. Obviously the changing sky had them on edge, something which suited him perfectly. The site of the former Machine City was completely dark now, but further away the sky cleared up somewhat. Here it was on a border area, not completely dark, but not the usual blue either. He had no doubt that no changes had occurred in the sky on the other side of the Digital World. The dark sky was simply a result of the further destabilizing of the Machine City area, spreading it a bit further. An interesting side effect of the very powerful jogress, predictable because of the digimon created from it yet unexpected at the same time. 

At the moment though the sky had no blue in it, the locals seemed to believe it was because of the earlier blackening which only now fully engulfed them. They were wrong, the dark clouds that hung around now were simply the result of a passing storm, nothing to worry about really. Still it came most convenient for his purposes here. Before they would realize their mistake it would be to late for them anyway.

"I've come to warn you that the bringers of Chaos, who have summoned a demon god from the abyss, are coming this way. As for what or who I am, I'm…" A suddenly thunder strike obscured most of the stranger's words, but from what the Unimon did hear he could only look in surprise. As the stranger took forth a small device from his pocket to prove his claim of what he was the Unimon was sold as he recognized the apparatus. Smirking, the Master followed the Unimon into the village to tell the story in full to the elders. And what a beautiful story it would be to, to bad it wouldn't be exactly the truth, or even come really close to the truth.  

Author's Notes: 

In the beginning of the series it was believed that Millenniumon's power was so great it could destabilize the digital world before he was truly formed. As seen in this chapter that was simply a ruse created by the Master and Demon as a way to keep the Chosen out of the way. Though the plan failed slightly as Ryo and Ken still arrived in the Digital World. 

What were Demon and the Master talking about? At the moment I can't say, but things will get clearer later on, just a few chapters away actually. And who is the Master exactly? The answer to that will also come in a few chapters. A quick note, the Master can't bend space around him like Millenniumon can. To get across large distances instantly, or almost instantly, he needs either Mille's help or Renamon's, his loyal servant. And yes, Renamon has been spying closely on the Chosen boys for quite a while now though no one knew he was there. 

Order of Light: The mysterious group that Gennai belonged to. Not a lot of information was given about this group, or even a name. This allows me to play around a bit with them and the history of the digital world. Same goes with Demon.

Translations: Japanese to English

Chicomon = Chibomon

Chibimon = DemiVeemon

Yagami HIkari = Kari Kamiya.

Dagomon = Dragomon

World of Darkness, Dark Area, Dark Ocean = all of these are known as the Dark Ocean in the American version, though this is not completely correct since it is not just an Ocean. 

Preview of the next chapter: 

A bit of a problem has emerged while traveling to the desert, can Ryo and the others get past a group of digimon tricked by the Master?


	18. Flight to the finish

Disclaimer: I don't own digimon, but some big companies do.

Chapter 17: Flight to the finish

Ryo's log: August 2000, somewhere above the Server continent, on route to the Desert

While we failed in destroying Mugen Dramon and stop the Jogress evolution that created Millenniumon we are still very much alive. And while things did seem pretty hopeless for a moment, Gennai informed us that there is still a chance to win. He send us on another trip, this time back to where I first met V-mon, the Eternal Desert. He called it a few other names as well, being the longwinded old man that he is, but V-mon quickly cut him off so we could get down to business. There is a crystal there, called the Eternal Crystal, though I suspect he made up that name on the spot. It apparently has the power to seal Millenniumon. Let's hope that Airdramon, a friend Ken and Wormmon made, can take us there in time.

End log

The skies still rumbled as if the heavens itself were in pain and right now Ryo could believe it. The abysmal darkening of the sky when Chimeramon forced the Jogress with Mugen Dramon couldn't hide the bleakness of the land, or the lack of digimon in sight. The young Tamer mused that the digimon must have all gone into hiding when the air turned dark. It was day now but it might as well have been night, if the previous day had been any indication. Still, he had to admit the sky was a lot bluer here then it was a while back, so maybe it was just a local phenomenon centered on Machine City. He hoped that was the case, it would mean that Millenniumon's corruption didn't reach all that far.

Ryo sighed, yesterday they had flown for hours on end before touching down for the night. Food had once again consisted of berries and whatever the fruit was that grew in the trees of a nearby forest. _What I wouldn't give for a good home-cooked meal right now_, the boy thought.

Adventuring was all good and well, when they were winning at least, but he did miss the modern comforts he had back home, like a toilet for one or a fridge filled with food. Drinking nothing but water made for a pretty bland drought, especially after all this time.

Sometimes they had managed to stay in some village and eat something else than what nature provided. Sleeping in a real bed was a luxury now, a thing he no longer took for granted. He could count the times he had slept in a bed in the last few weeks on one hand.

Why was he contemplating this now? Maybe because time was starting to run out, if he didn't do it now he might never get another chance. Suddenly realizing what he was doing, giving up on life and victory, Ryo frowned. This self-pity was not like him and he refused to fall victim to it. Sure there was a good chance they'd all die in the next couple of days, but what else was new. He had been in life-threatening situations almost since the start of his stay in Digiworld, the claws and pincers of Kuwagamon, the first digimon that had wanted to kill him were still fresh in his mind. It was also the first of many kills with V-mon. He still didn't like killing, but sometimes it was necessary, especially with all the evil digimon around. 

Looking up from his perch at the back of Airdramon's head, his hands still clasped around the beast's hair like when they had left the former Machine City, he started scanning the area around and beneath him. The terrain had changed from grasslands to mountain ranges and canyons all packed tightly together. For once he was glad they were flying instead of walking, if they had taken this route on the way towards Machine City they would have still been wandering down there. 

Next to him sat V-mon, the digimon had evolved during the night and like Ryo he was clinging fervently to Airdramon's spiky hair. Flying as Paildramon was one thing, but being in the mercy of someone else was a completely different story. 

The same could not be said about Ken and Wormmon, who had also managed to evolve after breakfast. Wormmon, with his many appendages, could cling to anything so it really came as no surprise to see him sitting comfortably on the skull of Airdramon. As if the attributes of the digimon had passed to his Chosen, Ken was still standing firmly at Airdramon's right horn. Ryo had given up on cautioning the boy as it had no effect whatsoever. At times, when he grew bored or tired of standing, Ken would sit down on Airdramon's head or hang on his hair like Ryo and V-mon did. Mostly though he just stood there reveling in the thrill of flying and adventuring as the wind blew past his face. The older boy really couldn't blame him, over the weeks he had learned something of Ken's life on Earth. His older brother, apparently a genius, had his parents' undivided attention as they basked in his spotlight. Most of the time Ken was ignored, at least that was what Ryo had managed to read between the lines of Ken's stories, he didn't like to talk about it much. Ken didn't like being in his brother's shadow even if he never said it in so many words. He couldn't relate to either Osamu or Ken being an only child himself, though he liked to think he would treat a younger brother differently. Especially if said little brother was anything like Ken, Ryo couldn't imagine anyone putting someone else over him.

Ryo smiled, somewhere along the way he had begun to see Ken as his little brother, the little brother he never had and, though he wouldn't admit it out loud, always wanted. When this was all over he would certainly have to visit the younger boy sometimes even though they lived quite a distance apart. 

"We have company," Airdramon suddenly called over, shaking Ryo out his reverie.

Indeed they did, several dots hung in the air in front of them, getting bigger with every second as they neared. Soon enough the forms could be recognized as a group of flying horses, Unimon. They were all white except for one who looked like a zebra, identified as Shima Unimon by V-mon.

"Halt, in the name of all that's holy," the Shima Unimon barked at them. Wondering what was bringing this on, Airdramon stopped and hovered in the air in front of them.

"What is this all about?" The dragon questioned.

"You are carrying the bringers of this destruction on your back. If you value your life then hand them over to us." The flying horned zebra said.

"Who? Us?" Ken asked, pointing at himself.

"Don't play dumb with us, we know what you did!" A Unimon shouted at them, glaring from behind the visor of his helmet.

"And what would that be exactly? Did we cross through your 'airspace' or something equally trivial like that?" Ryo questioned, standing besides Ken at Airdramon's left horn, looking as confident as ever. _I can't believe I'm doing this, it's so high and what if I fall? But I can't show these digimon any weaknesses and it's even kind of cool. Ugh, I think I'm going out of my mind._

"You are the ones who brought about the darkness of the sky," Shima Unimon droned, confident in his position as leader of this war band. He would show these infidels how holy digimon, well technically speaking they were Phantom Beast digimon but that didn't matter right now. Anyway, he would show them what they did to those who would summon evil into the Digital World, bad enough if it was a digimon doing it, but a Chosen?!  Who had ever heard of Dark Chosen the Shima Unimon wondered. No wonder that stranger was so adamant in having them stopped, it was an affront to everything the Chosen stood for.

"For being in league with the supreme evil we shall be the ones to put a stop to this abomination, Dark Chosen!" 

"Excuse me, but what?" Ryo managed to choke out. The accusation was so ridiculous it was hard not to burst out in laughs; however the situation was far too serious for anything like that.

"Dark Chosen!" More than one Unimon yelled. Ryo seemed to think for a moment, contemplating this serious charge against them.

"Let me get this straight, you think we are responsible for the change in the sky." He started saying, lifting one finger.

"Correct," Shima Unimon said.

"And that we've brought about a great evil." A second finger was raised, his face turning a bit more serious.

"Yes," the zebra seemed to get a bit impatient now.

"That we are fallen Chosen." The young Tamer looked the leader of the group in the eyes, now three fingers raised to accentuate the accusations made against them. 

"Right."

"That has got to be the biggest line of bull I've ever heard and believe me I've heard a lot." Ryo said with a laugh, crossing his arms in front of him. This set the band of Unimon of, starting with the leader.

"Raster shot." A flat beam of energy which spread out into a triangle shape raced shot towards Airdramon. Anticipating this move as soon as the brown haired boy had opened his mouth to counter the accusations, the flying dragon folded his wings and plummeted to the ground narrowly avoiding the attack. The other Unimon were only a second behind their leader, using their Holy Shot to attack the Chosen in the air. The Holy Shot resembled the Shima Unimon's Raster Shot only theirs was circular.

Going straight down towards the mountains and canyons Ryo held on tightly, with both his arms and legs, to Airdramon's left horn while Ken was doing practically the same at the right horn with Wormmon's help. V-mon was bungling in the air as he held on tightly to the dragon's hair with all the power he could muster, trying with all his might not to scream.

The Unimon were now diving after them but Airdramon held high hopes that he would be able to shake them off in the natural maze of rock beneath them. Banking up from the nose dive they had been making the dragon shot into one of the canyons.

"Wahoo!" Ken whooped in excitement and even Ryo admitted to himself that it was quite exhilarating, fun even, though he would never admit that to the younger boy as he was supposed to give the good example. Racing through the canyon with explosions almost right behind them Ken gave Ryo a warm smile which the older boy returned. _Okay, so maybe I won't be giving the correct example here, so what._

Veering to the left they entered another canyon, before banking a hard right to fly over a grassy valley. It was way to open here so after gaining some altitude they flew into a higher pass. Still the band of Unimon followed them as the sounds of rocks being blown apart was never far behind.

"This isn't working, we can't go to our destination with these fools trying to blast us," Ryo voiced. 

"Then what do you suggest?" V-mon huffed from behind him. Ryo thought about it for a moment.

"We split up. As soon as we reach another fork in the road V-mon and I will go left and you guys go right."

"But Ryo," Ken was starting to protest.

"No buts, you have to stay with Airdramon so we can find each other with our digivices afterwards. Try to hide and maybe knock them out when they aren't looking, but don't kill them. They are only confused, not evil."

"Right!" Ken replied, seeing a crossroad coming up in front of them.

"Let's go!" Ryo shouted to V-mon. The blue lizard let go of Airdramon's hair and jumped of his back, Ryo followed a split second later. As the two plummeted to the ground, V-mon concentrated his energy.

"V-mon evolves to V-dramon."

With the now large dragon beneath him Ryo managed to grab onto one of his horns and drag himself onto V-dramon's back. With a resounding thud the two landed on the rocky slope, grunting a bit at the hard landing before breaking out into a run. When he looked over his shoulder he could just make out Airdramon flying around another corner. That and the band of Unimon following them split up to follow both of them. That was all he saw prior to entering an outcropping of trees. 

Shima Unimon was surprised to see two of his wanted criminals jump of the blue dragon's back, he must have seen it wrong. Nobody would be stupid enough to jump from that height, not a human and a child level digimon. It was then that the child evolved into an adult, he couldn't make out what kind exactly though. Didn't matter, they wouldn't be able to outrun justice. 

"Split up! We have to get them all!" the zebra digimon said before following after the dragon on foot. Idly he noticed that about half had gone the other way, good.

"Burn that forest!" He commanded when that rude boy riding the digimon, a V-dramon it seemed to be, into the small wood.

"Persistent aren't they?" V-dramon quipped.

"No kidding," Ryo replied dryly as he observed the burned stumps of what were once living trees. "So how do we get us out of this?"  
"How long can you hold your breath?" V-dramon asked.

"I don't know, a minute I guess. Why do you ask?!" The last word being dragged out as V-dramon suddenly moved. Ryo barely had time to hold his breath as the larger dragon dove head first into a mountain stream leading out of the forest. The water was quite clear and surprisingly quite deep for what had looked like a small rivulet. They emerged after a few seconds and stayed a float as long as they still had the trees to cover them. Using his strong appendages V-dramon swam like his life depended on it with Ryo clinging to his back. 

Getting to the edge of the woodland by the surprisingly strong current all of a sudden they both took a deep breath before submerging.

_This was taking forever,_ Shima Unimon thought while he and his troops were busy laying waste to the small forest beneath them. They had leveled almost half of the trees already but still no sign of the quarry. The zebra wondered briefly if they had found some way to escape this trap, but quickly shook that thought off. His men, while burning the trees, held every edge of the forest in sight, there was no way they could get past them. The only way would be by going in the stream that ran through the forest, but no one would be stupid enough to do that. It didn't end in a waterfall for nothing. A sudden cry in the distance, towards the waterfall, caught his attention. He looked just in time to see two shapes going over the edge.

"I hate this plan!" Ryo shouted as the two of them went plummeting down. Who knew there'd be a waterfall here! 

"Sorry!" V-dramon replied. 

Lucky for them there were no sharp rocks waiting for them at the bottom, but hitting the water from that height could be quite painful. Twisting his body so he would land first V-dramon braced himself for the impact. 

As planned the blue Victory dragon hit the cold water first, breaking the fall for the human on his back. They stayed submerged while swimming to the shore. 

"Oh, that was horrible." Ryo said, coughing up some water. 

"Can't say I disagree with you there." V-dramon replied, dragging his body ashore. 

"Holy Shot!" 

Jumping away V-dramon managed to evade the shot fired at him. Above them flew a lone Unimon, the one who had been closed to the waterfall. The others would soon follow though, there wasn't much time left.

"V-breath Arrow!" the Victory dragon called out before shooting a  bluish blast shaped like an arrow with a 'V' for it's head at the flying horse. The attack missed but it did cause enough of a distraction for Ryo to climb back on V-dramon's back. Wasting no more time the dragon started running again as four other Unimon let by Shima Unimon appeared in the sky along with the one already there.

The canyon appeared to be empty at first glance and even if you looked longer. In one shadowy niche in the rock side three beings huddled together. A blue dragon, a human boy and a worm waited for a chance to either sneak away or take out their attackers with a surprise attack. Easier said then done of course as they were outnumbered. Ken couldn't fight and Wormmon wasn't really equipped for aerial combat, so that left the fight to Airdramon and he sure wasn't stupid enough to attack four Unimon at the same time.

At the moment though the four pursuers had split up to look around for them, fortunately they didn't have much luck in their search. Now if only one of them would get close enough to their hiding place then a few quick attacks would surely knock it out and even the odds a bit. 

One of the Unimon got rather close to their hiding place, but regrettably another one was at the other side of the crevasse. If they attacked now they wouldn't have an easy getaway. 

"Ah what the hell," Airdramon muttered.

"Go for it," Ken whispered back. The Unimon was hovering right in front of their niche, but hadn't spotted them yet.

"God Tornado!" A blast of energy like a tornado was send straight towards the flying horse. Unexpected as it was he had no way of defending himself from it and was knocked back. As they flew past the momentarily stationary digimon Wormmon sprang into action. A few quick shots of webbing from the little critter's mouth took care of the horse's ability to fly. With his wings paralyzed by the sticky substance Unimon fell like a ton of bricks towards the ground. The other tracker, who had been at the other side of the canyon when the fight started, was now already halfway over there and had no doubt alerted his friends of their location. 

"Let's go!" Ken shouted. Airdramon didn't need to be told twice.

"Holy Shot!"

"Raster Shot!"

V-dramon dodged both blasts and then jumped aside for another. All the while Ryo just clamped on his back, unable to do anything but maintain his position. For a moment the dragon wistfully wished that humans weren't so weak in comparison to digimon, but if wishes had wings then he would be able to beat them up on equal ground. 

And how was he supposed to get these guys anyway, they could fly and he could not. At least not without the worm to push him to Perfection and they were keeping that in reserve for Millenniumon. And besides, he didn't like to have his molecules intertwined with the other to the point of not knowing the difference between the two of them anymore. Oh well, at least Wormmon wasn't half bad considering he was a virus.

A faint memory surfaced as he looked at Shima Unimon and his Unimon thugs, a memory from when he had been on File Island. It hadn't really worked then but the target was incredibly fast and, let's faces it, these guys were not. V-dramon grinned, something which should have worried the attackers if they weren't already blinded by their 'imminent' victory.

"V-breath Arrow!" He fired one of his trademark energy blasts at the nearest Unimon, immediately dodging the incoming attacks from the other horses. Unimon meanwhile dodged the arrow, but didn't notice it was a half-baked attack, hardly even worth dodging. He did start to notice when more projectiles shot up from the seemingly dancing dragon, far too many projectiles. While not causing as much damage as a full powered V-breath the amount of little blasts, an attack he now dubbed 'Cutter Shoot', impacted many times with the horse's skin. A few hit the wings making it impossible for the beast to remain in the air. Crashing onto the ground the digimon got up weakly and confused and was greeted with the sight of a large blue dragon rushing towards him.

"Hammer Punch!" A large fist impacted with Unimon's red helmet, the force of the punch breaking the visor and snapped the head backwards. A flurry of punches continued to rain down on the poor beast of burden till he had blissfully succumbed to darkness, the sweet state of unconsciousness.

Both V-dramon and Ryo looked up, it had stopped raining attacks on them for a few seconds and they wanted to know why. Above them the four remaining Unimon and their leader stared in shock at their fallen partner, never did they imagine one of them would fall to the dark ones. Grinning some more the Victory Dragon took the opportunity presented to him and attacked another foal.

"Cutter Shoot!" Snapping from their daze the Unimon darted out of the way but one of them was unable to escape in time. Hit in the wings like his predecessor he fell down towards the ground, but still had the presence of mind to fire a blast at the charging dragon and his rider. Ryo wondered briefly how Ken and the others were doing, but snapped to reality when the blast came almost close enough to singe his hair. Proceeding to punch the now grounded digimon's lights out while under continuous fire from the other beasts V-dramon reckoned it was going to be one of those days.

Slowly the Unimon advanced towards the dragon that had managed to fly into a box canyon and to make matters worse the walls of the cliffs came rather close together a bit further up, so close in fact that Airdramon would never be able to fly through the small opening. The small crack in the ceiling barely let through enough light for them all to see by, but it was sufficient. _Box canyon?__ This is a damned cave_, Airdramon thought.

"I've got you now," Unimon boasted, confident that he would succeed in bringing the two before him to justice. He would be praised and admired, maybe even get to lead a group himself like Shima Unimon. Just then he realized something was wrong with the picture before him, there should be three not two.

"Sticky Net!" A web of silk threads hit the Unimon's helmet, completely covering up the visor. Surprised by the sudden attack the horse bucked in the air but couldn't shake of the sticky substance. 

"What the…" he chocked out.

"Random Roll!" From out of the darkness above him a green ball impacted with Unimon's blinded head, distracting him further. Using the momentum of his impact Wormmon bounced of the sturdy helmet to get some distance between him and the distracted digimon. Airdramon wasted no time in attacking.

"Spinning Needle," Airdramon called out, spewing a large amount of brown spikes at his adversary. Not enough to kill, but adequate in knocking the beast out. Flying past the falling creature they picked up Wormmon, who was hanging to the ceiling by a silk thread, and got away from the box canyon.

The two remaining Unimon wasted no time in pursuing, wondering briefly where those immoral offenders got their luck from.

Three down and three more to go, unfortunately all that jumping around had kind of winded him. At least he didn't have to carry his Chosen around anymore, Ryo had jumped off his back after the defeat of the second Unimon and scampered of to allow the dragon to fight more seriously. Lucky he did so because parts of his back were kind of scorched by the energy attacks from above. 

"This is so not good," V-dramon puffed, actually wishing Wormmon was there so they could Jogress evolve, he really liked the power of his Perfect form. He could really use those Desperado Blasters right about now.

"Get him!" Shima Unimon shouted, angered beyond belief that his troops were failing him so miserably. "He's only a bloated lizard."

"Bloated?!" V-dramon roared. The Unimon he had been targeting with his many smaller blasts was unpleasantly surprised when a full powered V-breath Arrow collided with his head, knocking him out and down instantly.

"Nobody calls me bloated!" Shima Unimon gulped, he had planned to motivate his own men not the thundering Victory Dragon on the ground. 

"I'm get him," The remaining Unimon said confidently, or at least that was what he tried but it came out more like a whimper.

"Bring it on lousy excuse for a holy warrior!" V-dramon snarled.

"H-holy…" Unimon started, but didn't get a chance to finish.

"Spinning Needle." Tons of brownish spikes came seemingly out of nowhere and impacted with the horse's exposed back. With a cry he fell to the ground, right into a waiting blue fist. 

Flying low over them so Ken and Wormmon could jump safely to the ground was Airdramon, still followed by two more Unimon. 

"We've got you now!" They boasted, unaware that they were the only ones left with Shima Unimon. 

"Cutter Shoot!" A multitude of low power energy blasts, shaped vaguely like arrows with a blazing blue 'v' for their heads shot towards the Unimon on the right.

"What the…" He muttered before he was hit dead on, the barrage slowly bringing him to the ground as he tried to remain afloat.

"Hey! You can't do that!" The other Unimon protested and was about to attack when a volley of spikes raced towards his position. 

"Raster Shot!" An attack from Shima Unimon destroyed all of the incoming objects, saving Unimon. Though Airdramon's attack didn't harm that particular Unimon it did serve as a distraction for V-dramon who had taken out his target without obstruction.

"Two against two, I like these odds," V-dramon said, still breathing heavily from all the action he had performed. Airdramon hovered above him, content to waiting till the two remaining unicorns made their move. For the moment it was a stare-off, but that wouldn't last long.

"Look!" Ken shouted suddenly from the side, pointing his finger at the sky behind the two horses, "It's Millenniumon!" 

As one the two horse digimon turned their heads to look at the Dark Lord, but they saw only an empty sky. A powerful blast hit the Unimon in the face, bashing him into the ground. Shima Unimon was a bit luckier and managed to avoid a flurry of spikes aimed at his person. He returned a shot at the flying dragon but the creature simply flew out of its way.

"Can't believe that old trick still works," Ryo said slyly.

"No, this can not be." Shima Unimon exclaimed in shock. They were all down, he was now the only one left. He had to do something and he had to do it fast, he…he suddenly felt a sticky substance on his wings, they wouldn't move anymore. Dropping to the ground he saw the source of this latest debacle, the child digimon called Wormmon. In all the action he had totally forgotten about that little one.

With a loud thud he collided with the grassy field, the impact expelling all the air in his lungs. For a moment he just lay there catching his breath as he was slowly surrounded.

"What are you waiting for demons, finish it." He snarled at the brown haired boy.

"Don't you get it?" Ryo asked simply, his voice calmer then he actually felt. Part of him did want to destroy this digimon, though he loathed admitting it even to himself. Today he had almost been killed and because of a deranged horse no less.

"Get what, you monster?" 

"If we wanted to kill you you'd be dead by now, as would your friends. We are not evil, we are not the ones who are responsible for the changed sky. We are partially responsible for the birth of Millenniumon, the supreme evil you mentioned earlier but that is only because we failed to destroy one of his components in time." Ryo explained.

"You, you are not Dark Chosen?" Shima Unimon asked in earnest surprise.

"No we are not. What possessed you to think that way anyway?" Ryo questioned.

"We were told you were responsible for all of this. He came to our village to ask for our assistance."

"Who did?" Ken asked.

"He was a…"the horse was suddenly silenced, his mouth opening wide as a pained gasp escaped it. The next moment his body erupted into data, the remnants slowly dissipating in the slight wind that blew through the valley.

"Sorry about that," A cold condescending voice echoed across the plain, the source of the sound undetectable. The voice wasn't Millenniumon's, they could tell that but who was it from then? Two of them present did recognize the voice, though there was a lot more malevolence in it now. The dark passage way, the stranger in the dark cloak and the black digimental, Ken shuddered in horror while Wormmon clamped to his leg.

"But he was about to expose some things that by all means should remain hidden for a while longer."

"Who are you!" V-dramon roared angrily.

"Who indeed? Ken, do you have anything to say dear boy?" The voice asked, a hint of humor in its tone now.

"No, it can't be you, you helped us!" The blue haired boy pleaded getting confused looks from everyone but Wormmon. The green bug digimon had lowered his eyes.

"Helped you or further my own gains?" 

"What is he talking about Ken?" Ryo asked.

"Back in Machine City," Wormmon answered instead," he came to us and offered to help us. He's the one who evolved me into FlaWizarmon with his digimental. He was dressed completely in black, we couldn't see who he was except that he was about your size Ryo."

"Exactly, unfortunately these poor bastards saw a bit more of me than that and I'm afraid I can't let you know what I look like yet."  
"What? You killed him just because he could identify you?" Ryo questioned harshly.

"Again exactly." The voice sounded kind of smug now, like everything, them included, was following his plan perfectly. "Now isn't there somewhere you've got to be? A temple perhaps? In a desert perhaps? Time's running out you know." Now the voice sounded like it was lecturing them.

"What's it to you?!" V-dramon asked gruffly.

"Nothing much," The voice said in a devil-may-care tone of voice, "only that there are some more digimon around who have seen me. If they should regain consciousness they might tell you what I look like and then I'd have to kill them. You wouldn't want that would you?" 

"Bastard," Airdramon hissed.

"Quite."

A sudden groan drew there attention to one of the Unimon, the beast was slowly regaining consciousness. Unfortunately it never would as at that moment he, like his former leader, burst apart into data.   
"Oh dear, look what you made me do now," The voice echoed around them again, "if you don't want to have any more deaths on your conscience than you better get moving now."

Seething, but knowing they couldn't do a thing about the mysterious voice right now, V-dramon devolved back into his child form. Quickly they got on Airdramon's back, not wanting to see another Unimon die because of them dillydallying around.

"Good, see you guys later." They heard it say in a tone that said it was pleased. After that the voice didn't resound through the valley again. Pressed on by a mysterious voice speaking seemingly out of thin air with the ability to easily kill digimon, weakened digimon at least. Ryo wasn't pleased with this, not at all.

"And?" 

"They've beaten the Unimon and are once again on their way to the desert," The Master said simply. Only moments ago he had been laying in hiding on a mountain plateau overlooking a grassy valley snipering off Unimon while taunting the Akiyama boy.

"Of course," Millenniumon stated with no concern. 

"My Lord, is it really wise to let them get to that temple. Whatever is there could be dangerous to us."

"Are you questioning me?" The Chimera asked, a slight edge in his voice. 

"No of course not my Lord." The Master's form was now in a deep bow, showing his obedience. 

"The temple is of no concern. Let them get their hopes up and when they get there crushing it will be all the sweeter. Nothing can defeat me now, Gennai is grasping at straws like he was when he send his puppets out to destroy an Ultimate without the means to do so. They are already defeated." 

"And Demon?" The Master wondered out loud.

"He seems to be keeping a low profile. Good for him."

Black Tailmon hissed, she had no time or desire to deal with these kind of morons. It had happened shortly after she had entered this small town, named Peak Town, in the middle of nowhere. Apparently, not to long ago a small group of children had gone missing, a Floramon, Candmon and a Penmon. The moment she had entered the town they had come down on her, claiming that she was responsible. Being an adult with experience in battle she had managed to get away at first, but they caught up with her in a forest clearing. A large rock in the form of a spire graced the center of the field. At the peak they had surrounded her, a search party of several adult digimon. The black cat scowled, she had been so certain she had lost all pursuit in the forest. 

_Oh how the mighty have fallen_, she thought wryly. Once she had been a digimon of power, serving under Lord Piemon. But she had been defeated when the Chosen came for her master. She had fought them and lost, lost to that despicable Angewomon. _Damn blond hussy. _

After being reborn she had left Primary Village the moment she was able to, the happy-go-lucky feeling of the place sickened her. Working hard while staying away from any hostile digimon, well at least the ones she couldn't kill, she managed to get back to adult level in little under a year. But still her Perfect form was denied her and now she was facing four adult digimon. 

"We've got you now, there is no escape!" Hanumon, a yellow ape digimon with a large bone club, spoke boastfully. 

"You will pay for what you've done to our children!" Snimon voiced. The large green bug digimon with scythes for arms looked menacing, but Black Tailmon was not impressed. In her day a mere look caused more fear then all the threats these digimon could throw at her. 

"Can't you fools listen!" She shouted at them, "I have nothing to do with the disappearance of those children." 

"Liar!" A blue dinosaur, Allomon, shouted immediately, "Why should we believe you. You're nothing more then a no good Virus." 

"Bah, pathetic virus hater!" Black Tailmon returned. This spurned the others on as she had faced Allomon when he shouted. With her back turned to him the fourth member of the group, Meramon, a huge man made completely out of fire, sprang into action. 

"Burning Fist!" A fist of flames descended rapidly towards the cat, but she easily evaded it, jumping high in the air. 

"Shadow Sickle," Black Tailmon heard the green bug say from her right. Slicing the air with its sickles two energy scythes flew straight at her. Making a quick flip she evaded yet another attack, but was unable to evade a third attack on her person. Hanumon's bone collided heavily with her, making the black cat crash into the ground in front of the blue dinosaur Allomon. For just a second she stayed down groggily before opening one eye into the air, staring straight into the carnivore's gaping maw and the fire that was forming there. Black Tailmon wasted no more time and rolled out of the way as a torrent of flames washed over the spot she was just in.

Getting back on her feet, she immediately had to jump back a bit to avoid the attacks from Hanumon. Then Meramon joined the fray, a moment before the other two did to. In moments there was nowhere to go, but through them. Black Tailmon hissed and tried to attack the yellow ape, but the others wouldn't let her. Suddenly she found herself pinned down on the ground, then a heavy object, specifically Hanumon's club, hit the back of her head. As everything turned to dark and she fell down on the ground she heard a voice speaking.

"We finally got her, so now what do we do?"

Slowly Black Tailmon opened her eyes and saw…nothing. A total darkness surrounded her with no sign of her assailants. At first she thought she'd gone blind, but when she looked down she could still see her paws and her body. Her second thought was that she had died, however this was nothing like her experience of dying at the hands of Angewomon. _So scratch that too then. _

"What's happening?" She wondered out loud. "Where the hell am I?" 

"Limbo." A sudden voice answered her. Whirling around where she floated in the endless blackness she came eye to eye with a robed digimon. 

"Or something close to it, it doesn't matter." Demon continued. 

"It doesn't?!" Black Tailmon questioned harshly, not knowing who she was dealing with.

"You've got spark, I like that." Demon said instead, giving a soft chuckle. "Seems though you're in quite a predicament at the moment bodyguard of Piemon. Or should I say ex-bodyguard?"

The black cat gave a nervous gasp as the mysterious digimon revealed his knowledge about her former life, the life she had before the Chosen interfered.

"H-how do you know about that?" She asked, if she could have moved in the sea of darkness she would have backed away. 

"Who are you?!" The feline demanded. No one knew who she was after she was reborn and she had kept it that way, at least until she got enough power again. She had tormented and ruined to many lives, if they knew who she was they'd love to exact revenge and kill her again. Was this one of those digimon? Somehow she didn't quite think so, he seemed to sure of his own power, like Lord Piemon had been.

"I know all about you. How you became Lady Devimon, how you seduced Piemon into making you his bodyguard, among other things, and how you met your end at the holy light of an angel." Gradually Demon's voice became more and more threatening, "I little girl, am The Lord of the World of Darkness, ancient beyond your beliefs. I've crushed more lives into dust than you and the four late Dark Masters combined. I've seen the Digital World form and become what it is now, faced the first evil and rose above it. I am Demon."

"What do you want with me?" She asked timidly, even if this demon lord was exaggerating his power was beyond hers. He wasn't someone you could easily offend and expect to get away with it.

"I have a proposition for you." 

The real world came back to her slowly, at first it was just her hearing. Around her she heard her assailants argue about what to do with her now that they got her. Seems like there were a few disagreements about what was to be done. 

A few seconds after that she opened her eyes, finding the four digimon standing together a few meters in front of her, busily talking away with each other. Some of them, the vaccines among them she idly noted, wanted to bring her back to the town at once. One of the data types, the Hanumon, insisted that they punish her themselves first. She let out a low growl, making the four aware that she had regained consciousness. With a quick flip she was back on her feet and glared down on the four adults in front of her, even though they were all taller than she was. _Join my special forces and I will restore you to power_. Was what Demon had said and she believed him. She knew power when she felt it and this particular digimon radiated more power than Piemon ever had. 

They slowly started to spread out, intending on surrounding her. 

"You should have stayed down, little girl." Hanumon said with a sneer.  

"Then why don't I get bigger for you?" The cat asked with a sweet smile which would send anyone who knew her running if they ever saw it. Before the four digimon could react to Black Tailmon's statement her body was enveloped by dark energy. 

"Black Tailmon dark evolves to…" She said while observing the shocked stares she attracted. Meramon was the first to react, throwing a bunch of fireballs at the growing black form. But to no avail, the black energy continued to grow till it was several times larger then it had been before. 

"What the hell?" Meramon exclaimed. 

"This can't be." Hanumon swallowed nervously, seeing the energy coalesce in front of him. 

"No! Die you monster, I won't let you win! Twin Sickle!" Snimon shouted and lunged forward. Getting right in front of the black shape which was now about a head taller then a human adult he swung both of his scythe like appendages. By now however the evolution process was completed and two blood-red eyes watched the attack coming within inches of her neck. A second later the attack passed through empty space, the newly evolved digimon had quickly ducked and was now crouching low, looking up at the startled insect with a most evil smirk. 

"Puwazon." She said, changing her right arm into a sharp lance. Snimon groaned when the lance pierced straight through his chest. Only a moment later did he burst apart, giving the remaining three hunters their first look on Black Tailmon's evolved form. She had changed from a cat to a tall woman, clad in black leather. Parts of the outfit were torn or knitted together. Her left leg was left completely bare, showing her pale skin, the same with her upper left arm. The outfit continued past her neck, covering her head except for two holes for her eyes and the lower portion of her face. Long white hair ran freely from an opening at the back of her facemask and way past her waist. Her right arm was proportionally larger then her left and ended in a large clawed hand. A large piece of the suit's cloth rose upward from her left shoulder, a pair of red eyes was clearly visible and it had a mouth which was partially sewn shut. Moving slightly in the wind, at least that was what people thought, was a clawed hand made of leather which was attached to the strange head. Attached to this cloth and her arms were iron chains, the ends hanging loosely down her body. 

Lady Devimon smirked, showing a gleaming fang. 

"Now boys, how about a third option, you let me go and I'll make sure your deaths are quick."

"W-what kind of an option is that?!" Hanumon stammered. 

"The only one you've got left." Lady Devimon replied smirking.

"You won't get away with this you monster!" Meramon threatened. Running towards the demonic woman his body's flames increased in intensity and focused in his clenched fists. Lady Devimon let the man approach, but flew back a bit at the same time. 

"Darkness Wave!" She called out, sending a swarm of flaming bats at Meramon. The fire giant braced himself for the attack, but the bats simply flew past him. A quick glance over his shoulder told him all he needed to know, the bats had attacked Allomon and Hanumon though they seemed to be restraining the two digimon instead of trying to kill them. Meramon had bigger things to worry about than the safety of his two friends, Lady Devimon had already lunged at him. He swung his fists at her but she dodged most of them, the ones she didn't dodge she blocked. Suddenly Meramon felt something cold and hard hitting his cheek, snapping his head to the side. The devil had used one of her chains against him. Before he could react to this underhanded attack his enemy had moved behind him. Now she was strangling him with the same chain she had used to catch him off guard and into this situation. 

"I already got away with it." She whispered huskily in his ear.

"Meramon, hang on!" Hanumon shouted, trying in vain to get past the blockade of bats. He and Allomon were succeeding thinning them out, but it wouldn't be in time to help their friend.

"You've got to break free." Allomon called out. 

"I-I c-can't." The strangled man of fire chocked out right before Lady Devimon gave one more mighty tuck, breaking Meramon's neck. Releasing her stranglehold she turned around to face the two remaining digimon who had finally gotten past the bats as their friend's body fell heavily to the ground before deleting.

"You know," Lady Devimon started saying thoughtfully, "I've really missed this, it has been a while since I've last had the chance to use my true power. To bad it's against such weaklings like you, I'd rather fight the Chosen again. There is a certain blonde I'd love to tear to pieces." She finished with a grin. 

"What?" Hanumon wondered out loud. 

"Nothing to worry about dears since you'll be dead within moments." The hand she had transformed back to hold the chain that strangled Meramon reformed itself into a spear once again. "Now who goes first?" 

Hanumon and Allomon looked at Lady Devimon, who was brandishing her sharp pointed arm, then at each other and back at the devil in front of them. As one they turned and ran the other way, back into the forest. As much as they wanted to avenge their friends' deaths they wanted to live even more. 

"Oh goody, a hunt." Lady Devimon smirked, turnabout is fair play after all. 

The hunt didn't last long, even though her quarry had separated almost immediately. The first one she found was Hanumon, the yellow ape digimon. A quick strike with her lance from behind through his chest took him out easily. She was already bored with this so she saw no reason to drag it out, after all it were only some measly adults. Now all she wanted was take out the witnesses to her evolution and get out of this backwater corner of the Digital World. With Demon she could reach a higher position of power then she had had with Piemon, of that she was certain, even more so than when he had appeared before her. Allomon was quite easy to find, his large frame unable to stay hidden for long in the forest, not to mention his blue coloring made him stand out like a sore thumb. 

Now no one that had seen her evolve into Lady Devimon was left alive, except for her new master, Demon. He was waiting for her in the sky and she didn't intend to keep him waiting for long. _Angewomon would get quite the surprise when they'd face each other again, she thought, feeling elated at the notion of being able to take revenge. _

"Welcome Lady Devimon," The Demon stated calmly, "welcome to the Demon Corps."

Author's Notes:   
  
Lady Devimon: It was never cleared up if the Lady Devimon from Adventures 01, the first season of digimon, was the same one that appeared in 02 working for Demon. In 01 she got into a catfight with Angewomon before being killed by her. The Lady Devimon from 02 immediately got into a catfight with Angewomon, suggesting that she is in fact the same and very eager to continue their rivalry.

Her official lower evolution levels were also never shown, so I've chosen Black Tailmon for her, though Witchmon came a close second. Black Tailmon fits well with her and the rivalry she has going with Angewomon whose lower level is a normal Tailmon.  

Renamon: Why Renamon? Well, the decision was made from a need, I needed a digimon who could spy on the Chosen unnoticed, report about it almost instantly, take the Master over large distances and not being overpowered. So my eyes fell on Renamon. From the beginning I had never intended on making this Renamon the same one that is with Ruki (Rika) in Digimon: Tamers, so the gender was not a mistake on my part. I picked it because the Master is male. Random fact, in the German dub Renamon is apparently male. Turning into Sakuyamon must really freak "him" out ^_^

Anyway, Renamon was just intended as an extra, with no real connection to the anime. Now though, after reading your (Akino Ame's) review I started thinking and then a plot-bunny came to visit. 

Which leaves me to a question as I am still in a bit of doubt. Should I stay with my original plan for Renamon or do the second one and connect him to a character in the anime (still won't be Ruki's Renamon though) ? I'm leaning towards the second option myself, but I'm accepting input on the matter. Whatever choice is made it won't impact much, only what is going to happen at the end of his role in this story.

Demon and Dagomon: As mentioned before, Dagomon is the ruler of the Dark Ocean, which is a part of the World of Darkness. A very long time ago Demon was send into this world and got trapped there, more about this particular event will become apparent later. He took over the land portion of this world and battles with Dagomon for complete control. 

Dagomon's servants, seen in an episode of 02 were called Scubamon, black versions of Divermon, but without their scuba-gear (who should have been called Divermon, but alas). They later showed their true forms of black shadowy creatures, the Deep Ones, who work for Dagomon. Dagomon is based on Dagon from H.P. Lovecraft and the Deep Ones were his servants, though this name is not official in digimon. In "His Master's Voice" Hikari had to help them get rid of the Kaiser's Dark Spirals, though it is commonly accepted that they were not under the spiral's influence since they eradicate all independent thought and that was just what the Scubamon were portraying. It makes more sense to see it as a trick to get the girl to the ocean so she could go with them. In the American version they wanted to make her their queen, but it was made quite clear in the Japanese version that they wanted to mate with her to create a more powerful race. 

We now come to Demon, like his enemy he too has an army under him, though his consist of real digimon and not shadowy creatures. Note again that everything about Demon before he appeared in 02 is all my creation and not official in any way.    

In "His Master's Voice" when Hikari was freeing the Scubamon they were attacked by an Airdramon, this digimon seemed to be under the control of a dark ring when he attacked. But when the spire that was supposed to control him was destroyed, freeing him of the influence, he continued to attack. Like the Scubamon he wasn't really under the control of the ring, but just saw his enemies and attacked them. If they had gotten to Hikari it would have made things more difficult for the Demon Faction.

The Master: Who he is shall remain a mystery for just a little while longer, just a few more chapters. Is it the Kaiser? Only time will tell.

As always, please leave a review, I really enjoy reading them and at times they inspire me too.

Translations: Japanese to English

Demon = Daemon (should have done this a chapter ago)

Black Tailmon = Black Gatomon

Tailmon = Gatomon

Preview of things to come:

Things are coming in motion as the Chosen struggle through the blistering Desert of Eternity. Can they reach the temple in time or will the desert be the one to do them in? How long can Millenniumon remain patient and can Ken deal with a heavy burden on his heart?


	19. Wasteland of Destiny's End

Chapter 18: Wasteland of Destiny's End

Ryo's log: August 2000, small village, edge of Eternal Desert

With the help of Airdramon we were quickly on route to the Eternal Desert. While it would have been nice if the dragon could have taken us there directly, he didn't want to enter the desert, which was understandable.

The flight was pretty uneventful until we were attacked by a group of Unimon, flying horse digimon. We beat them all but it seemed they were tricked into thinking we were the bad guys. Shima Unimon, leader of the Unimon group, was just about to tell us who was behind it all when he was suddenly killed. We heard the voice of an entity called the Master, whose real identity remains unknown, telling us he killed the Unimon because they could expose him. He also told us that he was the one who arranged for Wormmon to become Flawizarmon in the battle against Mugen Dramon. Naturally this has shaken Ken up a lot, though he already had his suspicions about their generous helper. The guy, he sounded like one anyway, taunted us with our mission. How he found out about all that I don't know, but something tells me I'm better off not knowing. 

After he taunted us for a while we had to leave before the other Unimon woke up, which would give him a reason to kill them too. Since we couldn't let that happen we left at once, I only hope that the Unimon wouldn't continue to blame us since we couldn't explain things to the survivors.

End log

It was day, not a cloud in the sky. Around him were endless fields of sand, occasionally offset with jagged rock and sandy dunes. Surprisingly it wasn't hot at all, just your regular room temperature. While part of him found it particularly odd, most of him just shrugged it off.   

He was standing alone, however, shouldn't there be people with him?

"Nah, it got boring," V-mon's voice piped up. Looking over he saw V-mon sparring with a larger version of himself, V-dramon. The larger dragon didn't seem to have any problem keeping the smaller digimon from landing a punch. He simply held the child digimon back by keeping his hand against his head. No matter what V-mon did he couldn't get close to his larger counterpart.

"I like the strength of that body," V-mon stated calmly," to bad he is rather bloated."

"Nobody calls me bloated!" V-dramon roared and squashed V-mon into the ground. When the giant fist lifted there was no sign of a hole or V-mon. He should feel concerned about that but he wasn't for some reason.

"Is this a dream?" He asked to himself.

"Could be," Wormmon's voice sounded behind him. Turning around to face the caterpillar, Ryo didn't notice V-dramon disappearing as his attention shifted away from him. 

"Have you seen Ken?" The green bug asked, but without any concern.

This place was seriously screwed up, no doubt about that. The little worm was holding a fishing rod, the line itself disappeared into the sand. Ryo watched in rapt fascination when there was a violent tugging on the line. 

"Wow, it's a whopper," Wormmon exclaimed. He reeled in the line, which struggled against him all the way, with his many appendages. Finally something emerged from the sand, at the end of the line was a black ring inscribed with glowing red symbols. Just looking at it gave him an ominous feeling. Wormmon shrugged and threw it back, letting the dark thing sink once again beneath the sand.

"No I haven't seen Ken," Ryo said, remembering that Wormmon had asked him a question, "I wonder where he is."

"He's behind you." Wormmon said simply and Ryo turned around again. The young blue haired boy stood in front of him now, a sinister look on his once innocent face. Before the older boy could react Ken plunged a curved dagger through his heart. Gaping in surprise at the weapon sticking in his own chest, blood slowly dripping away, Ryo dimly wondered why he felt no pain. Looking up at the boy in front of him he was shocked to see a person as tall as he was wearing a dark robe, cloak and hood. _The Master, he thought briefly. Angrily Ryo lashed out with his fist, punching the figure to the ground. The hood slipped back revealing a familiar face staring back at him, his own face. His view shifted for a moment, now he was laying on the desert sand, wearing the all black clothes. Looking up he saw himself towering over him, the dagger still in his chest. Now the sinister look was on the face staring down at him._

"Shouldn't you be dead yet?" Ryo felt himself ask his double.

"I can't be killed," the other Ryo, the one with the hole in his chest, said. A look of grim satisfaction formed on the face of his double. "Want to see?" 

Behind the bloodied figure a monstrous Chimera appeared, Millenniumon. The creature laughed with his strangely dual voice, two different voices overlapping so it almost seemed one voice, almost. The dark god looked a lot like Chimeramon, only his skin was now a sick brownish color. He still had fur on his large legs, the ones that were like a Garurumon's when he was Chimeramon. Only the fur was now a darkish blue with brown stripes. He had four arms, though they all looked like Devimon's now. The red hair of his Perfect form had changed to blue and his head had altered as well. The rather clumsy helmet of Kabuterimon had become more streamlined. He no longer had any wings, instead an ethereal form of energy, shaped like Mugen Dramon's upper body, hung above him, attached to his back. From it two all too real cannons sprung forth.

"Kill him," his double ordered the beast of darkness. As his world erupted in pain Ryo woke up screaming. Around him the world was still dark, apparently it was still night. Shaken up by that weird dream he almost hoped it would be day so he wouldn't have to fall asleep again. 

"Holy crap," the boy muttered, "what was that all about? That horrible dream? That…"

It was then that he noticed he could see nothing beyond the darkness and that whatever it was he was now sitting on wasn't his bed. Though everything was completely dark he could see the surface under him quite clearly. One thought came to him unbidden as the ground suddenly started to move, _shit_. 

"Oh you poor thing," large hands were rocking him about like a baby, "let mommy make it all better."

Millenniumon's large face appeared before him and Ryo did the only thing he could do, he woke up, for real this time.

Small beams of sunlight came through the blinds on his window. He was laying on a bed in a sparsely furnished room. Last night Airdramon had set them of at this small hovel near the desert and said goodbye to them. He would be in the area for a while so if they needed to be picked up again they just needed to call his attention. 

That night they stayed in a small house at the edge of town, the owner was more than happy to allow a bunch of Chosen to stay the night. 

"What a weird dream," Ryo muttered, not noticing that the image on his digivice shifted back to V-mon's, the other signal disappeared when he woke up. At least it was day now, but would that really be any better? He really wanted to stay in the bed for a while longer, but he knew he had to get up now. There was no more time to waste. With a quick kick V-mon fell of the end of the bed, wide-awake after hitting his head on the hard floor.

"Morning V-mon," Ryo said innocently.

"Yeah, morning." V-mon grumbled, rubbing the bump on his head.

Getting out of his comfortable, though a tad small bed, Ryo stifled a yawn as he moved to the clothes laid out on a nearby chair. He would have preferred to take a shower first, but this close to the desert water was apparently a luxury. Luckily he wasn't all that dirty, nor did he really seem to become so. _Must be an advantage of being in a digital world_, he mused.

Getting dressed rather quickly while V-mon was still nursing his head behind him, Ryo moved to the door the second he was done.

"Are you quite done?" He asked the digimon. Not waiting for a reply he opened the door and left. A small hallway lined with a red carpet waited just outside his room. To the right were a flight of stairs to the living room below and the roof above. The house, like most of the buildings here, was made from blocks of sandstone; it had a few floors and then a flat roof. Not the most imaginative of styles but hey, it worked.

Giving a slight knock on the door opposite of his room Ryo waited patiently for a response. 

"Yes? Who is it?" Wormmon asked politely after a few seconds. 

"It's us, we have to get moving again." Ryo answered.

"Come in, the door is open," Ken's muffled voice sounded. Entering they watched Ken finish putting on his shirt before going over to them. 

"'Kay I'm ready." He smiled, cheerful as ever. Evidently he hadn't been plagued with weird nightmares all night like he had. Or was the young boy hiding his darker feelings like Ryo was? Yesterday he had seemed quite shaken up by the Master's revelations and the deaths of the Unimon. Ryo wanted to tell Ken that he didn't have to hide his feelings for him, but that would just make him a hypocrite. And how was he to help Ken if he couldn't even help himself deal with a nightmare. 

One thing particularly bothered him about the nightmare, something that made it more than just a common anxiety dream and that something was Millenniumon. He had seen Chimeramon in real life, but after the Jogress and the following explosion he had not seen Millenniumon. So how did he know what the dark god looked like and sounded like? Maybe he didn't look like that all, but a gut feeling told him his dream had been on the mark. That thought worried him more than anything else.

Going downstairs they were greeted by their gracious host, Ponchomon, who hovered over to them. He was a ghost digimon who vaguely resembles a cactus. Wearing brownish rags on the lower half of his body it was clear that the thing had no legs. A large hat sat on his green spiky head.

"Howdy, friends." Ponchomon greeted them.

"Howdy Ponchomon," Ken waved.   

"Ready fer yer trip in the sun?" The cactus asked, "Wouldn't recommend it."

"I'd prefer something else as well, but unfortunately that's not up to me." Ryo voiced, revealing the fact that they were planning on entering the desert was unavoidable, but he'd be damned if he was going to reveal anything else. Traversing the desert by day was also something he rather not do, it was far too hot for his liking. At night at least it was cold, a bit to cold, but far better for travel. But he couldn't risk spending the day here. Last night they had to stop because they were too tired to go on, both physically and mentally, but with every passing hour they ran the risk of being attacked by Millenniumon. 

He didn't know how far in the desert they had to travel to reach the temple, the program on the D-Terminal was less then stellar in its assessments and he had forgotten to ask Gennai about it before they left. He almost groaned visibly at the thoughts of another trip through that wasteland of sand and rock. This time he hoped there'd finally be some more rocky ground then sand, makes traveling that much easier. 

"How'd ya want some grub?" Ponchomon offered, gesturing to the table. 

"Gladly." Ryo said, gladly accepting the offer.

The sky was dark, but then it always was here. The stain Vamdemon had put on this part of the digital world remained even after it was reformatted. Black stones made up the parapet of the castle, giving someone up there a good look on the withered grass of the courtyard. On the other side of the battlements was the rest of the world, waiting to see what the darkness would bring. 

One person didn't look that far ahead, not right now. Sitting against the stone battlement the Master watched a fight between a bunch of digimon below in the courtyard. It was a simple battle, three against one. Three Devidramon, black dragon-like creatures with bat wings and four red eyes on their elongated muzzles. Adult level, but not the strongest of the lot were about to attack a lone digimon warrior. The warrior, slightly reptilian in appearance, wore baggy brown pants but nothing on the large clawed feet, showing his light blue skin. Two leather belts wrapped around his waist, a white armor covered his chest and neck. His upper arms were bare, but he wore large wooden gauntlets, a wooden buckler attached to it. In both his hands he carried a large wooden sword made from bamboo, a boken. Weapons that, in his hands, could do more damage than metallic ones in the hands of those with lesser skills. 

A smooth white helmet covered his head, but left his short spiky hair free at the back. Two white horns adorned the top, a purple dot between them. The only holes in the mask were for his eyes, yellow reptilian ones, but tainted with a reddish glow. Purple markings were beneath the eyeholes. 

Yashamon watched calmly as the three dragons surrounded him. Many would feel at a disadvantage being surrounded like this, but not him. He knew that unless they had all trained and fought together that they would only get in each other's way. Unnerved by his calmness one of the beasts finally attacked. Rushing at him from behind he had no doubt hoped to kill him with a surprise swipe. Smirking a bit under his facemask the warrior knew the battle had now begun for these beasts. Turning only ever so slightly he blocked the incoming claw, which was laced with a form of crimson energy, with his wooden shield. Rounding on the beast he planted a heavy kick in its face, using him to push of into the air. Unlike the dragons he couldn't fly, but he could jump. Just in time to avoid the attack of the second beast that crashed headfirst into the first. Tumbling around on the withered lawn, they growled and snarled at each other. 

He had only a second to wonder where the third dragon was when the beast entered his field of vision, his eyes, all four of them, were blazing with red energy. Obviously this one was somewhat smarter then the others, using tactics instead of just brute force. The attack, registering in Yashamon's mind as 'red eye', not a very original name but then the species wasn't exactly the brightest in the book, drained the target of his energy so he would naturally drop out of his current evolution level. To bad for this fool that his energy stemmed from a digimental and not his own body. Devidramon could attempt to drain him till he decompiled of old age it wouldn't do any good. Oh yes, he knew where his power stemmed from unlike those before him. Fight it and you lost your mind to the controlling influence. But embrace it, and you remained yourself after the evolution albeit a bit more loyally inclined to the owner of the egg. 

Didn't matter, he was already loyal enough to the Master ever since his lord had rescued him. Since then he had assisted the Master in many things, the latest keeping an eye on Demon while he maintained the disruptive field as well as the two Chosen lurking about the Digital World. 

Bringing back his right arm he swung the wooden blade hard against the Devidramon's head, hard enough to knock the beast out of the way but not to kill him, not yet. He landed easily on his feet, then turned towards the two other beasts. With a mock gesture he beckoned for them to come at him and they happily obliged.

He blocked one swing with his right gauntlet from the right beast, his blade stopped the left beast and with a summersault he kicked both of them away from him in only for a few seconds. His eyes never leaving his opponents he dashed back several feet before standing at ease. Using the power given by the digimental was always fun and quite a rush, though for bums like these he didn't really need it. High on the battlement he saw his Master watching the fight and giving him a sign that he should finish it. Normally he would watch while he dispatched whatever opposed him for a lot longer then this, but today was a special day. The details eluded him, neither his Master nor his master's lord would say much about it, but it was apparently very important. 

The three Devidramon had moved close together now and he wondered idly what they were up to. Empowering their claws with crimson energy they charged him, no surprise there. It was time to show these simple creatures some of his real power. Bringing both his swords above his head he grinned audibly, feeling the exhilarating of using his strength to destroy those who would oppose him. It was that lust for combat and death that had made him such a good servant to the Master, one to keep around and not kill like those other digimon.

"Gordian Knot!" He shouted, the first time he had spoken in the entire battle. Slamming his swords into the ground a circular shockwave shot out from the point of impact to the rapidly approaching Devidramon. As the wave only seemed to progress along the ground they weren't worried, flying above it as they were. Big mistake when suddenly energy shot out of the ground when the wave front was right in front of them slamming all three of them down hard, their bodies now severely bruised up.

Dashing forward Yashamon reached the first Devidramon a second after it had made contact with the ground. A quick slash with his sword ended the demonic dragon's life. He didn't even wait for the creature to disintegrate, instead running on towards his next target. Like the first this one was easily dealt with being still partially dazed by Yashamon's furious attack. Two swipes and he fell apart like his partner.

Now for the third one, the last one of the pack. A quick sprint brought him right in front of the beast, who by now had seen what this lone warrior had done to its brethren. The sword lashed out, but was quickly countered by a black claw; red energy flew of it and onto the sword. Luckily it didn't conduct, but a second claw made a straight line for his neck. With an audible thud it connected with a wooden shield. Keeping this stance for a moment the two combatants glared at each other, their faces now rather close together. One in anger the other in bloodlust, Yashamon's eyes shone a bright red, slightly disconcerting the remaining Devidramon. 

"Need help Yashamon?" The Master's voice rang from the battlements. 

"No!" Yashamon replied harshly, gritting his teeth together under his mask. Jumping up he planted a food into the dragon's face snapping it back. The energy on the creature's claws dissipated as its concentration was broken. Quickly kicking the dragon in the neck with his other foot he finished the move with a summersault and watched his handiwork when he landed some distance away. Devidramon was now hunched over trying desperately to breath and only partly succeeding. Yashamon wasn't going to give the black dragon the time to recoup though and promptly sprinted forward. The look of shock and fear in the dragon's eyes gave the warrior an immense sense of satisfaction. 

"I hate the desert." V-mon grumbled for about the hundredth time that day. Only a few hours had past after they had eaten in Ponchomon's house. Bringing with them a small amount of water, which Ryo kept in a flask strapped to his back with his belt, before heading out into parts unknown was all the delay Ryo would spare them. They were relatively unprotected from the elements and with what the brown haired boy knew from deserts on Earth he reckoned they'd be dead before the sun went down. In fact, if this had been Earth it was a miracle they'd made it this far. But this was the Digital World, which fortunately worked under a few different principles. 

_Yet another plus to being made of data_, Ryo thought. The heat was at times unbearable, settling around them like a blanket, but he hardly had to sweat. He frowned, while the desert was as hot as he remembered, the heat was more docile, not beating down on them. Looking up he saw a light blue sky, a sky so different then the one from a day or so ago. That still didn't explain the different temperature though, but still, you just didn't look a gift horse in the mouth. 

"Who doesn't?" Ryo replied, wiping some none existing sweat from his forehead. Right now they were ascending yet another sand dune, there never seemed to come an end to those. At times there was solid rock to walk on, which at least increased their progress, making it easier to walk on than sand. 

"It's not so bad is it?" Wormmon asked," It is a bit hot but otherwise…" 

Grumbling, Ryo walked on, placing the next foot carefully in front of the other. Wormmon had no difficulty on any terrain whatsoever, his many appendages gave him excellent footing.

"Says you, we aren't build for traversing deserts." Ryo panted. 

"Oh, sorry." Wormmon said, reaching the top of the dune, the highest so far, first. Once there he sighed, signaling to the others that there was only more sand on the other end. They reached him only a few moments later, noticing that the green caterpillar was watching the desert ahead of them with a worried look in his eyes. 

"What is it Wormmon?" Ken asked. 

"I think I know." Ryo said solemnly, looking, like Wormmon was, to the horizon. Out there, and moving rapidly towards them, was a sandstorm.

"So, is that the power your pathetic little minion possesses?" A cold voice asked. 

"It is, part of it anyway. He can reach adult level on his own, but for this particular show I wanted a different kind of digimon." The Master explained calmly. Yashamon had successfully defeated all the Devidramon and was in the process of watching the bits of data scatter in the wind when the other arrived. His large frame was taking up most of the space there. Yashamon wasted no time in bowing down before this immense power. Millenniumon was not a digimon you wanted to offend, especially since the lower level warrior suspected the digimon was inherently insane, which was shown partially by the dual nature of his voice. The creature's large head moved to the battlements, where the Master was sitting. The Master was a bit more brazen with the dark god than Yashamon dared, but not by much. Millenniumon didn't hold them in high esteem and was more often than not downright insulting. 

"May I ask what brings you here my Lord?" The Master asked.

"You just did, didn't you?" Millenniumon said testily.

"Apologies, my Lord." Renamon watched as his master bowed again before the giant beast. He would have snarled at the degrading display that Millenniumon forced upon them but he didn't want to die just yet. While he faced death whenever he got into a battle he made sure only to engage into one when he had the chance to win. Against a digimon of Millenniumon's caliber picking a fight was equal to suicide.

"You have been getting to complacent lately, my servant," the Dark God said in a threatening voice, "have you forgotten who you are talking too?"

"No, my Lord," the Master stated honestly, sounding almost aghast that this evil chimera would even consider such a thing to be true, though Renamon knew that his master was lying through his teeth.

"Good, see to it that you remember well, or you may find yourself learning a lesson you will never forget."

"Yes, my Lord." 

"But now on to business," now Millenniumon sounded gleeful, the dark mood he had been in had seemingly dispersed, at least for now. Whether it was through the Jogress evolution, or if he had been so before, Renamon didn't know, but he did know that this 'god' was not completely sane, not sane at all. And mood swings were only the tip of the iceberg of what he had noticed.

"You will go to your designated area at once, it's probably nothing important to me, but if things go as I've planned them you will face the boy-toy there. Deal with him and any who should come with him accordingly. I will deal with Ryo." 

These last words drew Renamon's attention, in all this time he had never heard Millenniumon designate someone with their proper name, unless they were beings of power like the Sovereigns and Gennai and even to them his tone was always condescending. But the way he named this Chosen boy, this Akiyama Ryo, was different, almost as if they were equals. The fox warrior couldn't help but feel that this was indeed something important, even if the exact meaning eluded him.

The sandstorm had overtaken them fast, faster than they had expected. Now the four travelers were slowly progressing through the storm. The sand was hot and stung in their faces, making them shield them as much as they could with their arms. 

Lifting his head Ken peeked out through the opening between his arms. In front of him were three forms, each of them struggling against the endless sand but doing a lot better than he was. 

Ryo was looking at the ground beneath him, keeping his head low and covered with his arms he was going strong. Like even this storm was nothing more than a measly annoyance. 

At his side V-mon was doing the same while muttering something about how much he hated the desert. The blue lizard didn't seem tired either and neither did Wormmon. His many appendages made any terrain easy to walk across, though it did make it harder for him to cover his face. 

Unlike them, or at least that was what the young boy thought, he was tired, really tired, his legs were hurting. He didn't dare voice this in fear of disappointing further, because he just knew they were disappointed. 

How could they not be, he had been of no real help at all. He wasn't even supposed to be here, the digivice wasn't meant for him but for Osamu. His big brother wouldn't be helpless, he would have known what to do and be able to do it. He would have been able to make Wormmon evolve, like Ryo could do for V-mon, on his own. He wouldn't need any help from…_him.  _

_"Who are you?!" V-dramon roared angrily._

_"Who indeed?__ Ken, do you have anything to say dear boy?" The voice asked, a hint of humor in its tone now._

_"No, it can't be you, you helped us!" The blue haired boy pleaded, getting confused looks from everyone but Wormmon. The green bug digimon had lowered his eyes._

_"Helped you or further my own gains?" _

He had hoped beyond hope that the mysterious figure wasn't the same one who had send all those digimon to attack them, but they were one and the same after all. And now Ryo knew he had to resort to dealing with their enemy to be of any help. How worthless was he that someone evil could evolve Wormmon, his friend, while he could do nothing.

It was his fault those Unimon had died, if only he had been strong enough to catch the Master in Machine City none of them would have been deleted. 

Ken stumbled, almost loosing his footing on the rough sand, but continued to walk. Looking in front of him again he noticed he was getting behind. Only Wormmon was still in sight, the others were blocked from view by the sand that was blowing around. Again he was failing, this time in simply keeping up with his friends. Why couldn't he be more like his brother or Ryo? Why couldn't he do what had to be done?

"Ken? Are you alright?" He heard Wormmon ask him. His three friends had all stopped walking and were looking at him instead. 

"Do you need a break kid?" V-mon asked, not unkindly but he made it clear that taking a break now wasn't really an option. 

"I'm fine, really." Ken said, even managing a smile. Ryo's doubtful look said clearly that the older boy wasn't buying it in the slightest. He knew that he had been feeling a bit tired too, so he could only imagine how it was for Ken, who was by far shorter than he was and had to take more steps compared to him.

"If we could only find some shelter from all of this accursed sand," Ryo stated, but there was nothing visible around them that could offer shelter. 

"I'm fine really," Ken grumbled and continued walking. The others looked on in worry as Ken shambled past them. 

"Ken," Ryo started, raising his hand as if to stop him.

"No, I can do this." Ken persisted. Looking Ryo in the eyes as he walked past him, the pure stubbornness that was keeping him going showed through in his eyes making Ryo's hand stop approaching. V-mon had to admit the kid got spirit, but this was not the time or place for it, not if it got him killed from sheer exhaustion. 

"You don't have to do this Ken," The blue lizard said, "There is no reason for you to overexert yourself. It's uncomfortable but we could take a break here." 

_No, I have to do this. I have to prove that I can be strong enough_, Ken thought. Not looking at any of them he struggled onward through the hot sand. The remainder of their little group looked at each other for a moment before following close behind the blue haired kid. At least they could keep an eye on him now. The last thing any of them wanted was to for the boy to tire and lag behind to the extend of losing him completely. But having him walk in front of them paved the way for a whole new set of problems and, unfortunately for them, one such problem was about to announce his presence.

Only meters in front of them, hidden in the sand, was a digimon looking for trouble. This digimon in question had been going through this desert for a while looking for his pack. In the sandstorm though he had lost sight of them and now he was all alone. If he could just get out of this wasteland it would be fine, outside he could survive. There was simply nothing to live on here and there wasn't an oasis in sight. Dejected he had hardly noticed that he was almost completely buried in the sand, but when he did he welcomed it. He would wait till the storm calmed down before moving on. But after a while this simple plan was starting to get the better of him, without food and water and the endless sand he was getting weaker and weaker while his frustrations were building, slowly driving him mad. 

It was bad luck that the group of four, with Ken in the lead, went straight for the lump of sand hiding the almost rabid digimon. In his state of mind the digimon thought they had come to kill him, or something similar. He couldn't allow that, he hadn't come all this way to fall in such an acrid wasteland. When Ken was almost on top of him, he jumped out from under the sand, a gray hare-like digimon. With his eyes widening in shock Ken couldn't move a muscle as the digimon thundered towards him.

"No!" Wormmon exclaimed, suddenly appearing in Ken's field of vision. The worm head-butted the attacking digimon out of the way. Both of them fell away from each other after the impact had occurred.

"Wormmon? Wormmon are you alright?" Ken asked worriedly, dropping to his knees to keep his little friend close to him. Turning around in Ken's arms the little green caterpillar faced his best friend. Ryo stood close by, hovering protectively over the pair while keeping a close eye on them and the immediate surroundings. Of course the sandstorm kept most of what was around them hidden from view. V-mon had taken off after the Gazimon who had run away after being knocked back by Wormmon. Ryo sighed, yet another type of digimon that had caused them trouble before, just like so many others. Seeing that he couldn't catch up to the Gazimon without losing sight of the others V-mon slowly turned around and walked back. 

"Of course," The digimon said reassuringly, "they can't beat me that easily." 

"Good." The boy said with profound relief.

"I am so glad to be your digimon." Wormmon suddenly said, surprising his partner.

"Huh?" Was all that Ken could think of to say.

"You are really gentle and sweet and I really like you." Wormmon continued unabashed.

"Me, gentle?" Ken wondered out loud, remembering an incident with his brother on the balcony of their apartment back home. They were blowing bubbles together, though he had been a lot better at it than Osamu had. His brother told him it was because he blew bubbles more gently so they didn't burst apart like his did. 

"But being kind isn't enough, you also have to be strong, or else," The green digimon said trailing off. 

"Or else?" Ken asked, the worry coming back into his voice.

"Or else your kindness may be overshadowed by evil, these things happen." As he said it Wormmon remembered their encounter with the evil in Machine City and how close it had gotten to Ken. Even now the boy still seemed troubled by what he had been told and what he had done in order to help Ryo and V-mon.

"The digivice is yours and not Osamu's. You are a Chosen Child and no one can ever take that away from you. Evil forces will claim otherwise but you mustn't listen to them. Never forget who you are."

"I won't." 

"Promise?" Wormmon asked. 

Ken nodded, but he was still feeling doubtful about the legitimacy of his claim on the digivice. Could Wormmon be right, could the digivice truly belong to him? But if it did then why couldn't he evolve his digimon with it? 

"You should believe what Wormmon says Ken." Ken looked up to see Ryo standing by his side, the older boy's hand rested on his shoulder to comfort him.

"The digivice goes to the one it is meant for. If it wasn't meant for you it wouldn't have taken you here." 

"Really?" Ken asked in wonderment, he hadn't truly wanted to think about the digivice being truly his. Nothing seemed to prove it was his except for the fact that it linked Wormmon to him. Maybe that's enough, maybe it really was his. Than his brother had been wrong to assume as he did. Ken smiled, though he still had some doubts they weren't as strong anymore.

"Really," Ryo answered before grabbing his D-Terminal. Flipping the lid open he pressed a few buttons to bring up the guiding program Gennai gave them. 

"Well, we are still on the right course but it doesn't look like we'll reach it anytime soon," letting out a sigh Ryo sat down on the sand. "Let's take a break here okay?"

"Uhm, sure." Ken answered and sat down as well. The sand was quite warm, but luckily not hot enough to burn them when they sat down.

The terrain shifted under their feet again, this time going from sand to rock. This relieved the party of wary wanderers greatly, for a while they could travel a bit easier as the stony ground provided them with better footing. Another bonus was that the sandstorm's intensity had dropped significantly. It was still there, but much of the irritation had faded and the visibility had increased. 

"Aren't we there yet?" V-mon whined, all this sand was really taxing his patience. There hadn't been anything but rocks and sand for hours, except for that one Gazimon a while back and to make things worse the D-Terminal still didn't show they were almost there only a vague direction. 

None of them knew how long they still had to travel, no one had any idea of when Millenniumon would strike. And it was still unclear if getting to the temple and that crystal could truly help them win. 

Ryo had not forgotten what Gennai told them weeks ago when they had started, he told them they would have a chance to beat Mugen Dramon. Sure they had a chance, but it was only because of the interference from the being known only to them as 'The Master' that they weren't all dead now. Somehow he doubted the guy would be so kind as to help them again.

"At this rate I doubt we'll reach it today, maybe not even tomorrow." Ryo said honestly. 

"No, it just has to be close by, we can't give up hope now," Ken voiced, "Wormmon, can you climb up that outcropping to look around?" 

He pointed at a large rock jutting out of the ground a few meters away. It wasn't that high, but high enough for someone to look past the rocky terrain. 

"Sure Ken," the worm replied and scuttled off. For him it was just as easy traveling over rocks as it was over the sand, though if he was honest he, unlike the others, preferred the sand. It was much softer to his appendages than these rocks were. 

Slowly he climbed the rock to the top; it was only ten or so meters. 

"Can you see anything Wormmon?" Ken called out, when Wormmon had perched himself on top of the rocky spire.

From his new vantage point the green child digimon could see that the ground remained of rock for as far as he could see. Granted, the sand which was continuously being blown around by the wind obstructed the greater part of the horizon, but he could see about fifty to a hundred meters away. Nothing but rock though and further on would be nothing but sand, there appeared to be no temple here.

"No, there is noth…wait a minute!"

"What is it?" Ryo demanded to know. 

"It's something different, I don't know what," Wormmon said slowly, peering past the all the obstructions in the way of what he saw. In the distance, only twenty meters away, were what seemed to be iron tracks of some sort. 

"Tracks?" Ken wondered out loud. V-mon looked pensive, trying to remember where he heard that before. 

"Let's check it out," Ryo suggested. 

"What are train tracks doing here in the middle of absolutely nowhere?" Ryo wondered out loud, scratching the back of his head. Both he and Ken looked at the find with honest surprise. They were standing at a turn in the railroad. The track came from the north but twisted to go east instead, straight in the direction the Tag Tamers had been heading. 

"I remember now, this is the Locomon track." V-mon suddenly blurted out, looking quite pleased with himself for knowing this.

"What is this Locomon track used for?" Wormmon asked with genuine interest. 

"Well, there is a certain type of digimon called Locomon. They are big machine type digimon who are apparently quite powerful, though I haven't been able to find out if this is really true. These tracks are the only way for them to move about the Digital World. They just keep going and going and going forever," V-mon lectured.

"So they are like trains?" Ken speculated. 

"I guess, I haven't seen one for myself yet, " V-mon shrugged, "from what I've heard the only thing they do is keep going and going and going forever. Sometimes they even take passengers but mostly they just, well, _go."_

"It would be nice if one of them could take us to the temple, "Wormmon said, following the railroad tracks with his eyes till they faded from view. "These tracks seem to go in the right direction, maybe even straight to it." 

Ryo barked a laugh, "Yeah, but there would have to be a Locomon first. Considering some of the luck we've been having these tracks are probably unused." 

The last syllable had barely left his mouth when they heard a whistle in the distance, it sounded surprisingly like that of an old train.

V-mon looked at Ryo appraisingly, "Now that was amazing, I wonder if I could do that. Ahem, with all the luck we've been having a king-sized meal will not appear at my feet."  

All of them looked down at the ground in front of the blue lizard, but not surprisingly nothing happened at all.

"To bad, I'm kinda hungry." V-mon said, ignoring the rumbling in his stomach.

"It would just have gotten sand in it anyway. But there is a Locomon coming, so we'll have at least that." Ken piped up.

"If the Locomon stops for us, if he lets us ride with him, if he actually goes to the temple, hell, maybe he isn't even friendly and will attack us." Ryo said doubtfully. "Those are a lot of ifs. Still, it would sure beat walking, I think we should take the chance."

The whistle sounded again, this time it seemed a lot closer but the source of the sound couldn't be seen yet. It was then that Ryo realized the flaw in their plan to hitch a ride with the train digimon. Because of the swirling sand they could only be seen at a close distance, and though visibility had increased significantly it was not enough. By the time the Locomon would be able to discern them from the background there would not be enough time to for the machine to stop, granting he wanted to stop of course.

"V-mon, Locomon might not see us in time. We have to find a way to board him." Ryo said sternly. 

"I can evolve to V-dramon, jump to it and try to stay on," V-mon offered. 

"But at that speed, what if you slip, get burned by the friction or ripped apart when you clutch on?" 

"Maybe Wormmon can help," Ken suggested.  

"I don't see how, anyway it won't be necessary. In my adult form I am strong enough not to be ripped apart by a speeding Locomon, nor will I 'slip', "V-mon assured firmly. Another whistling sound, the train was getting closer and closer by the second. Whatever they were going to do it had to be done quickly, very quickly. 

"V-mon, go for it." Ryo said softly, looking determined to get on board that train. He knew this was their big chance to reach the temple. If only Airdramon could have taken them the entire way, but with the danger involved, not the mention the earlier incident with the Unimon, he couldn't really blame the guy for not wanting to go any further. Enveloped by light the little blue lizard changed into his larger counterpart, the Victory Dragon known as V-dramon.

"Get on my back and hold on tight," V-dramon commanded, his eyes never leaving the train tracks as they disappeared in the sandstorm. Ryo quickly complied and hopped on his partner's back, but Ken looked worried and wasn't making a move at all. Wormmon was following Ryo's example and scuttled to the blue dragon's leg and started climbing. The tracks still looked deserted, but that was to be expected. Locomon would only become visible when he was almost right on top of them. _Why couldn't things ever go easy_, Ryo wondered. Here he was about to get on a train, forcibly, with the help of a big blue dragon of all things. Frowning all of a sudden, Ryo looked down at the blue haired boy at the dragon's feet who was shuffling with his feet. Ken's worried expression wasn't lost on him, though he didn't understand why Ken was worried now. Wasn't he advocating hitching a ride with the Locomon just mere moments ago? The silence of the moment was broken, strangely enough, by V-dramon who was trying to stifle his laughter. Drawing looks from all three of them V-dramon returned them with a sheepish look of his own. 

"What? I'm ticklish." He admitted, his eyes falling on the green digimon who had stopped his ascend.

"Sorry," Wormmon said, doing his best to get on V-dramon's back as soon as he could so he wouldn't bug the dragon anymore. With Ryo's help, who had grabbed him at about three quarters of the way, he finally sat down. Still Ken had made no move to get on the digimon and as Locomon's whistle could again be heard it became clear that their time was almost up.

"What are you waiting for Ken?" Ryo demanded. 

"I-I won't be able to hold on, I'll fall," Ken stammered. Ryo grimaced, the boy was probably right, while V-dramon would be able to hang on to the train as it was going to speed past them, the sudden momentum would more than likely throw them off. It was the one thing he didn't want to think about. The damned thing was that at the moment he couldn't figure out a solution, but then he remembered something.

"Ken, you said before that maybe Wormmon could help V-dramon right? What was your idea?"

"Make it fast people, he's almost here." V-dramon stressed.

"I was thinking that he could use his thread attacks to make a protection for V-dramon's hands." Ken said quickly. Ryo thought about it for a moment, slowly a smile spread on his face. The younger boy wondered at what his friend had thought up. 

"Of course," Ken whispered as comprehension dawned on him, now smiling as well. Waiting no longer he grabbed the hand that Ryo was now offering and climbed on V-dramon's back as well. Now he sat in front of Ryo, the older boy's hands holding him tightly as he did the same with Wormmon.

"Wormmon, use you Silk Thread and Sticky Net to wrap us tightly to V-dramon," Ken ordered.

"Right," Wormmon nodded. Before V-dramon could object the sticky threads wrapped themselves tightly around his body and his passengers, tying them all closely together. 

"Oh, gross." V-dramon muttered, his face twisted in disgust. His entire body except his legs, arms, head and tail were completely covered with the goo.

Before anyone could make a comment there was a low rumbling in the ground, then the Locomon thundered into view, going only a bit slower to make the turn. The locomotive, the actual body of Locomon, had already overtaken them. Behind it were passenger cars, they were rather old fashioned looking with a door at the front of the car and at the back. Small windows ran along the entire side. At each of the doors was an iron pole, which the dragon used as a hold. Immediately after grabbing it he was yanked of his feet by the sudden momentum, it was all he could do to hold on as the machine digimon took the turn. Maybe he shouldn't have been so boastful earlier. When they were going straight again his body slammed against the side of the carriage. They were hanging right against the door, but the opening was too small for his large body. Blasting in wasn't an option, destroying part of the wagon when they weren't even supposed to be on wouldn't go well with Locomon. Devolving so he could fit wasn't an option either, not while they were still hanging on for dear life. Only V-dramon had the strength to hold on. That meant only one thing, the only thing he could do except staying where they were. Placing his feet against the wall of the cart, he pushed off against it while swinging his body upward. Letting go of the support pole he was flung back and up over the wagons. When he landed, well not really landed, it was more like crashing hard onto the roof of the car behind the one he had hung on to, really. Ignoring the pain he did his best not to roll over and to remain as he was, on his belly, so he wouldn't hurt the people on his back. Grunting hard he planted his claws into the metal roof, gritting his teeth all the way. When he was sure he wasn't going to slip he let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding. Ryo, Ken and Wormmon did the same.

"God damn, that was intense," Ryo exclaimed. Ken would have said something, but he was still gasping for air. He was sure that had Wormmon not used his webbing to bind them to V-dramon that he would have fallen off. 

"You're telling me," V-dramon huffed, this wasn't exactly a picnic for him either. "So, what's next?"

"Meet with Locomon, we have to reach the front and explain our presence. If we don't it will only lead to more problems."

Carefully V-dramon tried to stand up, but almost lost his balance in the process. The speed at which their ride was traveling, combined with the sand that was blowing violently against them didn't make things any easier. Trying again after a momentary pause he finally succeeded in standing up, though he was still slightly hunched over. The sand was more than a nuisance now, at this velocity it was downright painful. Covering his eyes as much as possible and using his body to shield the others the dragon began his slow march to the first compartment and the locomotive.

"You okay V-dramon?" Ryo asked after a while. He sounded a bit muffled because his face was pressed against Ken's back to shield himself from the sand. The younger boy and Wormmon, who sat in front of him, hid their faces against the dragon's back. 

Mentally preparing himself V-dramon took a deep breath, almost choking on the sand he inadvertently inhaled, then started running as fast as he could. At the end of the carriage was an opening, separating it from the next one. It wasn't all that large, only a meter or two at most, but it was large enough to potentially cause trouble. It was hard enough to move on the roof as is with the sandstorm and friction against them, jumping had a lot of risk.  With his friends on his back and the wind against him, the Victory Dragon didn't really want to take the risk by jumping across. But what other choice did he have, the current situation didn't leave him with a lot of options.

"Hang on," V-dramon stated as they neared the opening. With a mighty leap the dragon managed to cross the breach and land on the other side. As he was going over the opening he saw that the cars were connected at the bottom and that one could traverse the wagons by going through the doors that were there. Still, like the doors at the side he was still too big to fit through them.

"I'm not bloated, it's all muscle," He grumbled to himself, now there were only a few more wagons to go.

"Who are you?" Locomon's heavy voice rumbled. Now that they were on top of the gigantic machine and traveling at his speed, they could finally see what he looked like. Made out completely out of metal, the digimon looked just like an old locomotive. Though they couldn't see it from their vantage point, it had two yellow eyes in the front. On top was a chimney from which a billowing cloud of smoke emerged. The back of the train was opened so one could enter the control room. The foursome was sitting on top of his coal cart, glad they had finally made it. The coal was making V-dramon dirty, but he didn't care about that now. It hadn't been easy getting here, for at some points the tracks were rather unstable which made the train shake. The first time that happened almost made them fall off.

"My name is Akiyama Ryo," Ryo started, pointing to each of them as he went through introductions, "this is Ichijouji Ken and our partners V-dramon and Wormmon respectively."

"Those are some strange names for digimon," Locomon stated.

"Digimon? They are humans, the Chosen. Don't you know?" V-dramon questioned in surprise. He knew there were remote regions where the exploits of the Chosen didn't reach, but Locomon traveled all around the digital world, surely he would have heard about it somewhere.

"Chosen? Weren't they some legend about beings from another world?"

"Legends? They are real, they are here," Wormmon said, gesturing to the two humans with them, "how can you not know of them?"

"Don't bother greeny, "V-dramon said before anyone else could, "he's a Locomon, they don't care about current events, all they care about is to keep running and running and running and…"

"Stop, we get the picture," everyone, including Locomon, interrupted him at the same time.

"Anyway," Locomon said pointedly, "that still doesn't explain what you are doing here, on me and in such a rude manner!"

Ryo noted that Locomon didn't really sound angry, just a bit of irritation mixed with curiosity. That could help their case, at least somewhat, if he brought it right.

"We are truly sorry about our entrance, Locomon," Ryo proclaimed, "but unfortunately we had no choice. The four of us are on a mission of great importance for the Digital World. There is a temple somewhere along our current heading; it's a place we have to get to as soon as possible. That's why when we came to your track and heard you coming towards us we just had to get on."

"A temple on this route? Now that you mention it, there is a large structure in that direction, but my tracks don't go all the way." Locomon said thoughtfully.

"Could you please take us there, or as close as possible please?" Ken pleaded with his puppy-dog eyes. Little good did it do, as the train digimon couldn't actually see them anyway, not when his eyes were at the front, giving only the ability to look forward. While that does make his abilities seem rather limited, the blowing sand doesn't hinder his eyes and he has an innate sensing ability to detect things close to him. It was almost like radar, though not quite and not following the same principles. 

"Well," Locomon said, stretching out the word as he rolled it over in his head. On the one hand he didn't really take along passengers, since it forced him to stop to let them in, but they were already on board. He'd probably have to stop to let them off, but whether he did so now or at their destination didn't really matter. There was a third option, simply letting them stay on until they either jumped off or died, or even kill them out right. But he was not a violent digimon, never had been and he had no desire to become so. Guess that meant he was going to let them travel with him for as far as they'd want to go. The temple, as he recalled, was about a few hours away, but he couldn't be sure of exactly how long it was going to take. Sometimes the same trip took mere hours while on some occasions he had taken him days to do the same route. Something about this place was distorted, not completely in sync with the rest of reality. He didn't know why and he didn't really care, all that mattered to him was that it was there. Not many digimon knew what happened, only that it had to have happened almost at the beginning of time. Few of those digimon that had existed in those times were around now, many had been killed and reborn a hundred times over at least. When they got reborn a digimon usually retains a good portion of his memories from his former life, but not everything is passed on. That, coupled with the fact that it were mostly the oldest memories that faded first and the immense passage of time since those days, made it virtually impossible for any digimon now to still have memories of those times. Granted of course that the digimon in question had been processing back then. The total population of the Digital World had increased over time after all, so not everyone has existed for that long. Then there was also the uncomfortable fact, almost a taboo really since no one really talked about it, that not everyone was reborn. Some were just lost, total fragmentation some called it.

As it was, there existed only a handful that still knew the tragedy that had befallen in this area, all centered on what was now a lost temple in the middle of the desert, the Wasteland of Destiny's End.

"Alright, you can come with me for as far as you need." Locomon conceded.

"Thank you very much," Ryo said.

"You should go into one of the cars, it is far more comfortable there for you."

"Thank you, we'll do that." Ken replied. Taking this as his cue to go V-dramon turned around and jumped of the coal cart to the entrance of the first wagon. Of course the door was still far too small for him to enter.

"Good luck getting the bloated guy inside," Locomon said calmly.

"I'm not bloated!" V-dramon roared.

The inside of the compartment was pretty standard; it had seats on either side of the walls with baggage holders above it. Iron poles placed intermitted throughout the wagon allowed for people who had to stand to keep their balance. Unlike some trains in the real world this one was rather clean, or at least it was till they entered it. The doors were still in one piece, V-dramon did not lose his self-control after Locomon's innocent yet scathing remark about his body size. Actually V-dramon opted to simply devolve since his strength wasn't needed anymore at the moment. Unfortunately they were still all wrapped together by the sticky substance of Wormmon, resulting in them now being fully covered in the stuff now, since V-dramon's larger form held it around tightly but V-mon's was simply overwhelmed by it. Stumbling inside the compartment it had taken them the better part of an hour to fully free themselves. The ground was now littered with the sticky stuff and while they were slightly worried about the mess Wormmon assured them it would dissolve on it's own in time. 

Ryo was sitting at the front of the carriage at the right side, his legs spread out long before him and his arms spread out to the side. V-mon had taken up a similar posture next to him, mumbling something about disgusting and icky while taking scarce glances to the remains of the sticky net on the floor.

At the opposite side of the train carriage the other two of the team sat, glad they could finally relax a bit. Wormmon was curled up in a ball, apparently taking a nap. Ken sat in a similar way Ryo did only his arms were crossed over his chest.  

"Ah," Ken breathed out, "this is the only way to travel, nice, comfy and most importantly, no sand."

"You got that right kid," V-mon agreed.  

Silently Ryo reached for the flask of water behind his back. Taking it from his belt he shook the canister, listening to the sound of sloshing water he quickly determined that there was not a whole lot left. He sighed before sharing the news with the others. They were of course less than happy about it.

"We'll each take only a sip and try to conserve what we have as best as possible. Maybe we'll get lucky and find another oasis to replenish our water supply," Ryo suggested, "you guys go first."

Getting up he tossed the flask to Ken then went over to the door of the passenger car. Taking a deep breath he opened the door and stepped, quickly closing the door behind him. The less sand that blew in there the better. V-mon and Ken watched him go, shrugged and proceeded to take their share of the water. 

Meanwhile Ryo was taking care of some business. With their imminent water problem it became quite clear to him they would never be able to get out of the desert unless they could somehow replenish their supply.

"Locomon!" Ryo shouted over the roar of the engine and the wind, "do you know of any oasis near the temple?" 

"What was that? An oasis?" Locomon replied, "I don't know, there might be, but there are none on my current route. At least not as far as I can see, for all I know there could be a huge lake behind the temple." 

"Hmm, than we'll just have to hope that there is," Ryo said somberly.

The hallway was pretty dark and full of shadows. The floor, the walls and the ceiling were constructed out of huge blocks of dark yellow sandstone, only much stronger than actual sandstone. Torches that never went out were the only sources of light, placed on both sides of the corridor at some distance between each of them. It was not enough to light up the whole of the place, but it was enough to see by. At each wall, between the torches, were huge and intricate carvings into the stones, portraying epic events from the past. 

Standing at one of the walls were two figures, the shorter of the two was leaning against the wall, looking at the other side and his companion. His companion was the taller of the two, the fox type digimon Renamon. The warrior was doing some shadow fighting to pass the time and keep himself sharp.  

The Master watched his prize minion's actions, satisfied that the fox was at peek condition. Soon, very soon, things as they were would come to an end and a new phase would start. He could hardly wait for that moment.

Pushing himself away from the wall, the Master walked to the center of the walkway. Renamon stopped what he was doing to watch. He noted that his boss no longer wore his dark robes, a small smile involuntarily formed on his face. The absence of the clothes he had worn for so long were a symbol of change, a sign that they would soon emerge from the shadows to reveal their true power and intent. 

"But will it truly be momentous as this one I wonder," he smirked at the image in front of him. It showed a demon of infinite evil and near endless power. The very first Evil to plague the digital world, even before the power that was Millenniumon was even conceived. It came from the Pit, the very center of the Dark Area between worlds, the place of which the Dark Ocean was only a facet. That place which was now shielded by the Wall of Fire, the great barrier created to prevent such a catastrophe from ever occurring again. Of course it did happen again, at least the beginning of it. The Odaiba Chosen after defeating Lord Piemon had crossed the barrier to fight the new incarnation of that first evil, Apocalymon. The image in front of him showed that demon, a creature born to balance the good of the Sovereigns at the beginning of time, digital time that is. The walls told a story, a true story of Good versus Evil, but it did not show who truly won that conflict. While the evil then was stopped, it left behind seeds that would grow into new threats in the future, a future that had already turned into past and present. And the greatest seed of that conflict would soon show how much it had grown over the years.

"It will be something worth to remember Akiyama Ryo," he said, his tone one of sadistic pleasure, "for those of us who will be alive to remember it."

"We're here!" Locomon's voice thundered through the compartment, "This is as close as I get to the temple you're heading for."

Steadily they could feel the train losing speed till it finally stopped completely. For the first time in a very long while a Locomon stopped his endless run in the desert. Seconds after coming to a complete stop the doors of the first passenger car swung open and out stepped four figures.

"Thanks for the ride Locomon," Ryo said, the first one to step on the sand. Sand still blew around them, but by now they hardly noticed it anymore aside from some minor irritation, which gets less minor if it blows in their eyes.

"Damn sand," V-mon muttered, rubbing his eyes.

"Well, good luck," Locomon said before his engine started running again. The four of them watched him go of into the distance after going through another turn. When he was gone Ryo took out his D-Terminal again to check on their position. Sure enough, this time it showed a signal close by.

"We're in luck, we're almost there." Ryo said with relief. Not wasting another second the foursome started on their final march to the temple where they would find the weapon that according to Gennai would give them another shot at Millenniumon.

After a half an hour there was a sudden and brief lull in the sandstorm. In the distance something rose up from the horizon and it didn't look like another sand dune. A glimpse is all they got before the sand blotted out the horizon again, but a glimpse was all they needed.

"It's there, we're almost there!" Ken said enthusiastically.

"Let's go for," Ryo said with a smile, seeing Ken cheerful again, honestly cheerful and not a façade, did him a lot of good. The four set out with renewed vigor, but it still took them a while to reach it. The more time went by the more Ryo realized that the building must be quite big to be seen from such a distance. Almost an hour went by, but then finally it loomed up before them, a huge structure called a ziggurat. It's a form of temple used by the Sumerians, Babylonians and Assyrians. The Mayans of Central America made similar structures, though the historical value was kind of lost on them. The ziggurat was a pyramidal structure of seven large rectangular platforms that receded in size as you went up to the top where the shrine was. A gigantic ramp at the front allowed access to the shrine at the summit. An imposing structure indeed, but it was nothing compared to the being that stood at some distance from the temple that made their blood chill. The demon from Ryo's nightmares had arrived here before them.

"Ah, look who we have here," Millenniumon's dual voice sounded strange, as if he wasn't sure about the emotion he was supposed to be showing, "if it isn't Ryo, the boy-toy and the pets."

Author's Notes:

Firstly I would like to apologize (once again) for the lateness of this chapter. It was due to a serious case of writers block early in the process and some computer problems in the last week. This thing would have been done days ago, but for a nasty virus which messed with more than I want to into. Let alone what I had to do to get rid of the thing, since it altered some important settings. A word of warning, don't go messing with the windows registry if you don't know what you're doing.

Anyway, I'll try to get the next chapter out sooner, but considering how many times I've said this even I don't put much faith in it anymore. I'll do my best though.

As always please leave a review. I'm always open for suggestions, constructive criticism, opinions and ideas. Come on, don't be shy, I don't bite (much).

Next Time:

Millenniumon has arrived at the temple before them, now it's a race against time for Ken to get the crystal from the huge temple while Ryo keeps the dark god busy with the help of their digimon. Will Ken be able to face the perils hidden in the ancient vaults alone or will he fall victim to the darkness within it? 


	20. The Seed of Darkness

Disclaimer: I do not own digimon, nor am I trying to make any money with this story.

**Chapter 19: The Seed of Darkness**

Ryo's log: August 2000, Desert of Eternity. 

The desert is hot, though it could be worse. Had quite a horrible dream last night about Millenniumon, but I don't really want to go into that. After a while there was a sandstorm, one that hasn't stopped since. The chance that we'd all die without ever having to fight Millenniumon became a frightening possibility. Luckily we ran into a Locomon, a kind of train-like digimon. He gave us a ride to the temple, things were finally looking up. 

Guess who was waiting there for us?

End Log

The desert was still as hot as it had ever been, endless reaches of sand lay all about the imposing structure at the centre of the wasteland. The temple was more imposing than the four travellers could have imaged. The structure was composed of several large platforms, each smaller than the one underneath it. On the final platform stood the entrance of the monument, a shrine dedicated to the Digital Gods and the Digital World itself, which was small compared to the rest of the building. The entrance could be reached by a large stone ramp, a feat that would tire almost anyone. But once that was done one could enter the temple and gain control of the one thing that could still stop Millenniumon, at least according to the old sage Gennai.

Problem was, the small group of Chosen wasn't the first to reach the site. It seemed their enemy had beaten them to the ziggurat.

"Ah, don't you have anything to say? I'm hurt," Millenniumon mocked, a playful grin formed on his abominable face. The foursome was locked speechless into place, no one, except for Ryo, had seen the Dark God before this moment. For the older boy this was a double shock, the image in his dreams had been right on the money, he had known how Millenniumon looked before even meeting him once.

"Come on, I'd expect nothing less from these fools, but you should be different."

Ryo gulped, though the beast mentioned no names he was sure he was talking to him. Feeling an incessant tugging on his shirt he averted his gaze from Millenniumon to look at his fellow Chosen. The boy looked at him with fear evident in his eyes, his slightly shivering form telling his thoughts. That they had not yet found the weapon, that they were not ready yet and, most importantly, that he desperately wanted to know what Ryo's plan was. The older boy swallowed again, there had to be something they could do. He was supposed to be the leader, but with a veritable god breathing down your neck it was not easy to come up with something.

"R-Ryo," Ken stuttered, "w-what now?" 

"Yeah, that's right pipsqueak, show me some fear," The chimera crooned before Ryo could put the boy at ease. Angrily his head whipped back to the smirking monster, but he didn't say anything. Something in the beast's eyes told him it liked the rage he was displaying.

"Enough of this!" V-mon called out, taking a protective stance in front of the others, "you stand there all glory-hogging now, but just wait till we're through with you." 

Millenniumon's facial features seemed to darken, an insane glow appeared in his eyes. How dared this little beast stand up to him, he was nothing compared to him. The chimera's claws flexed and straightened several times, before he finally responded.  

"You think you can beat me usurper?" He growled, "just try me and I'll show you who of us is the right one."

Though his words didn't make much sense to them it was clear that V-mon had made the dark god very angry, which could not be classified as a good thing. Ryo was worried, more so than he had ever been before. Scared, he couldn't begin to describe the feelings of dread he was feeling, but he couldn't just let that stop him. He had been in dire situations before and somehow gotten out of them as well and in one piece. This wasn't the first Ultimate digimon he had faced, though Millenniumon was by far more imposing and evil than Mugen Dramon had been. But they had survived Mugen Dramon and they were going to survive this.

"I have no idea what you're talking about freak, but I know a challenge when I hear one," V-mon said, actually managed to smirk. The little blue lizard was afraid, anyone who said they weren't when faced with something like Millenniumon was a fool. But he wouldn't let that fear paralyse him, would not let it stop him. For all intends and purposes this is what he lived for, to fight and if need be to die protecting the Digital World from forces that would harm it. He had faced plenty in his day, Mugen Dramon being the most powerful of them all and gotten away with it. Like Ryo he would not succumb to despair, but he had to admit that chances of their survival were pretty bleak. Collecting his strength he transformed into V-dramon in a show of light, a sign of defiance to Millenniumon's darkness. Though it was more of a token resistance than anything else. Millenniumon even had to laugh because of it before he got serious and angry again. 

Ryo could draw no other conclusion that Millenniumon was insane, truly insane, or at the very least not in control of his emotions. It made him all the more dangerous, but maybe this unpredictability could be of some use to them. Slowly he realized that he could think clearly again despite of the mind numbing fear that was threatening to overwhelm him. The demon's right eye fell on him, looking at him with a certain pride and something else, a desire perhaps? It almost made Ryo sick, but he suppressed the feeling. _My god, what does he want with me?_

"That's not good enough upstart," Millenniumon admonished, the moment between him and boy had passed. He even waved a finger in disdain.

"I-it is good enough!" Ken yelled back.

"Be quiet worm, you have got the mental capacity and the strength of your pathetic digimon. What would you know of my power and the means to stop it? Just leave this to the big boys and go play with dolls or something." The chimera said dismissingly.

"How dare you speak to Ken that way!" Wormmon protested, hopping forward to stand next to V-dramon. Faintly Ken's digivice started to shine with a greenish glow, it was mirrored by Ryo's digivice and D-terminal. A blue light for the digivice and a golden glow for the D-terminal, where the shards of the golden digimental were kept.

"You're the one who is wrong Mille," Ryo said calmly, slowly walking past the two digimon. The one they needed now was Paildramon, but if V-dramon and Wormmon fused now they would surely be stopped. Unless Millenniumon was distracted.

"You don't mind if I call you Mille, do you?" Ryo waited just long enough to get growl in response. His three friends watched him go as if he was as mad as Millenniumon. With the dark god's attention now focused solely on Ryo the two digimon prepared to Jogress.

"Anyway you're the one who is going to be defeated, there is no stopping that."  
"Ha! You and what army?" Millenniumon laughed long and hard, his two heads, both the physical one and the one made of energy thrown back. He never noticed that V-dramon and Wormmon had become energy and were starting to join. Then he simply stopped and looked at Ryo with puzzlement and curiosity in his mad eyes.

"Did that sound as much as a cliché to you as it did to me?" He asked, honestly surprised. Ryo stared at him with wide eyes. Did Millenniumon, the so-called dark god, really just say that? 

"It did actually," the boy said with a smile, his arms crossed in front of him. The two enemies shared a laugh then and there. 

_What the hell am I doing_? Ryo couldn't help but wonder. The thought was mirrored by Ken, who was watching the strange exchange unfold. It had worked though, Ryo's plan of distraction, it had enabled two digimon to become one, the dragon man called Paildramon. With a slight thud the digimon landed on the sand, just a meter or two away from Ken, but further away from Ryo.

Millenniumon noticed it, but instead of the cockiness Ryo was expecting the demon seemed torn between two emotions. Before he could figure it out though Millenniumon roared in anger, his eyes flashing towards him with pure undiluted hatred. 

Things had been going according to plan, he had confronted _him_ and the lackeys and was actually able to engage him into conversation. Where did it go wrong, where did he give in to the rage in heart? Paildramon, that was it, it was because of that stupid amalgamation of bug and reptile. Of course that lower being would show up, it was in the plan after all, but not like this. He had been deceived, tricked by _him_ and that was inexcusable. They had corrupted him, it was the only explanation, they had subverted _him_ and now he would eliminate them all soon enough. A blood red haze threatened to settle in front of his eyes, wanting he to just let it all wash over him. But he wouldn't, not now. He wanted to be fully aware when he took them all in and not clouded by the bloodlust. 

"Dimension Destroyer!" He roared, a torrent of energy exploded forth out of the twin barrels on his back. The blast streaked towards Paildramon and Ken. 

"Look out!" Ryo yelled, luckily he was out of the attack's way. In a re-enactment of their earlier battle with Mugen Dramon the dragon warrior quickly turned around and grabbed hold of Ken. Pushing of against the sand he flew into the air as the energy blast exploded on the ground. The explosion send them flying and Paildramon was only barely able to keep on to the blue haired boy. Ryo too was knocked back, landing on his back in the sand, but he wasn't seriously harmed by it. 

"Ryo!" Paildramon called out worried. He was about to head to him when Ryo stopped him.

"No! Take Ken to the temple, we need that weapon!" 

"But Ryo…" Paildramon urged.

"Forget about me, defeating Millenniumon is all that matters." 

"Bravo, what a wonderful self-sacrifice you've got going for you. Just like an obedient little soldier, ready to die for the cause. You disappoint me Ryo, you can be so much more than that," Millenniumon scolded. 

"And what would you suggest I do then?" Ryo questioned harshly, the demonic chimera was starting to get on his nerves. 

"I thought you'd never ask," Millenniumon smiled.

"Never mind, I don't want to know," Ryo quickly objected.

"Are you sure about that? Think of the things I could tell you."

"Oh yeah, like what?"

"That I'm not fooled by your obvious attempt to distract my attention away from your 'friends'," Millenniumon stated calmly, though his eyes betrayed the rage than ran in his veins. Turning away from the now wide-eyed boy he targeted Paildramon as he was flying close to the top of the ziggurat. The ziggurat, now that brought back memories, Millenniumon mused, memories he much rather forgot. Below him Ryo shouting a warning, but it would not avail them. With a thunderous sound he fired several large volleys towards Paildramon and his passenger. He didn't wait to see the results of his assault instead he turned back to Ryo almost immediately.

"Now where were we?"

"Hang on," Paildramon said to Ken. Keeping a strong hold on the boy he started veering from left to right, up and down to avoid getting hit. Several of the blasts had already streaked past him, their searing energy was almost enough to burn him even if they didn't make contact. So far though he had only gotten lucky to avoid the blasts he couldn't see. First things first he decided, the temple could wait till after the attack had past. 

Stopping his forward motion he twisted around in the air to face the incoming blasts. While he had been thinking the next one had gotten almost on top of him. In a burst of speed he flew up higher, letting the energy pass harmlessly underneath him. A dash to the left, down, right, then left again, several more shots had past him by.

So far he was succeeding in avoiding a hit, but if Millenniumon had been truly serious he was sure he would be dead now. What was that insane digimon doing, focusing on Ryo like that and ignoring the rest of them? Something about that just didn't sit right with him. 

A low sound from his chest reached his ears just then. Ken, kept close to Paildramon's body, was looking a distinct green. His aerial manoeuvres flashed in his mind just then, he could only imagine how that must have felt to the boy.

Now though, with the blasts behind him, he could continue on towards the temple. Even if every instinct in his body told him to go back to Ryo, who was pretty much defenceless right now.

But he couldn't do that, there was much more at stake than the life of one boy, more than all of their lives put together. For now he had to make sure Ken reached the temple, even though he dreaded leaving him alone to go inside. Who knew what hid itself there, but safety was a luxury they could no longer afford. 

He turned around again facing the pyramid, just in time to see the majority of blasts impacting with the ziggurat.

"Oh no…" he muttered before the structure disappeared in the resulting explosion, swallowed up by a giant ball of slightly greenish flames. It was strangely beautiful in it's destructiveness, a fitting end to their hopes. 

"What do we do now?" Ken said dejectedly. 

What could they do? What could they possibly do? The ball of flames had mostly died out already, replaced by a cloud of black smoke that was slowly rising into the air. With the temple destroyed so easily by Millenniumon what was there left for them to try? 

"Wait…" Paildramon gasped, between wisps of smoke he could see stone, a bit blackened but still stone. With the wind blowing away the smoke it became clear that the ziggurat had survived the destructive power of Millenniumon. All the stones were still there, for some reason the blast was not enough to destroy them. They were blackened, but even as he looked the dark spots, ashes, were blown away in the wind. There was only clear stone underneath. 

Paildramon flew to the zenith of the structure, glad they still had a chance, however slim it may be.

Ryo couldn't help but let out a sigh in relief as the pyramid came back into sight, for a moment there he too believed it had been destroyed. Paildramon had raced off with Ken, leaving him all alone with Millenniumon, the one that was going to kill them all. He needed only a minute, then Paildramon would have brought Ken to the top of the temple and be back to fight this demon.

One minute, but it might just as well have been an eternity. 

"Not losing hope yet are you?" Millenniumon questioned. For someone so evil and out for their deaths, he sure talked a lot. Ryo didn't answer him, he couldn't find the words nor did he have the time when his adversary continued.

"You are not what I was expecting, not at all. I wonder if you are truly who I expected you to be. Meeting you here face to face for the first time since becoming complete, I don't feel you as I thought I would." Millenniumon frowned, he looked mightily disappointed for some reason. Ryo didn't really understand what he was talking about. 

"Have they sent you here to trick me while they keep him away from me still?" His eyes narrowed to slits, glowing red slits.  

"There is only one reason why I'm here," Ryo started.

"And that is to finish you off, Desperado Blaster," Paildramon finished, a barrage of energy bullets pummelled Millenniumon's back as he flew over him.

Ken took a moment to stare back into the desert, poised as he was in the door opening of the desolate building. Two large stone blocks served as doors, but they stood wide open. Paildramon had rejoined Ryo in battle, flying in all directions to avoid getting hit by one of Millenniumon's overly powerful blasts while inflicting as much damage as he could.

Ryo could not be seen anymore, the entire ground had been swallowed up by dust clouds. Even though Ryo was out of sight Ken knew that the older boy was still alive. But for how long, that was a question he could not answer. He couldn't wait any longer, he had to get in this temple.

He was afraid to enter, afraid to go in alone, but he had to. Taking a deep breath he past the stone archway and into the darkness within. 

As soon as he stepped inside of the building the sounds from the battle outside stopped. Shocked he turned around, to look at a foggy picture of the desert. A strange mist hung inside the entranceway obscuring the outside world.

Ken was fascinated, by he had no time to study it further, he had to go on. The room he was in was lighter than it had appeared from the outside, just like the outside looked different from the inside. It was also a lot cooler compared to the acrid air of the desert. There was an altar in the middle of the chamber, on it stood a tablet with digicode writings on it, but Ken couldn't read it. Behind the altar, at the opposite end of the chamber from the entrance was another door. Like the entrance the huge stone slabs were opened allowing anyone access. While it was good that he could enter freely, the same could be said for everybody else. Who knew what awaited him deeper inside? 

He shook his head to clear it of his doubts, then quickly stepped past the altar and went through the other door before he could change his mind or stay standing still in fear.

Behind the door lay a passageway, which was sloping down, the floor, the walls and the ceiling were all of boring stones. At the walls, like in the chamber behind him, were torches. Ken wondered who had lit them, but he was glad he wasn't going to have to stumble around in the dark.

He followed the passage to its end, where it abruptly went to the left. He figured that the corridor would follow the general shape of the ziggurat down to the centre.

Ken turned the corner only to come face to face with a dark form. Whoever or whatever it was stood in the middle of the space between torches, where things were darkest.   

"Ah Ken, so good of you to come here my boy," the figure said, "I've been expecting you." 

He knew that voice, it came directly from his nightmares, the voice of a demon. The monster stepped forward into the light of the flames. The first thing Ken noticed was that he no longer wore the deep dark cloak he had worn in Machine City.

This new costume of his was quite different than the last one he had witnessed, but in the gloom of the tunnel most details stayed hidden. The clothes were lighter than the cloak had been, not at all as much black. He looked a lot more human now, which surprised Ken. He wore what seemed almost like a uniform, this thought was strengthened by the overall colorscheme, which stayed the same on everything. Around his neck was what seemed to Ken a scarf of a cape, which was split in the middle to form two separate parts at his back, almost like wings? Ken looked higher, past a smirk and two piercing eyes to see very wild hair, human hair and not like the kind he had seen on some digimon. This was not a digimon, as unbelievable as it looked an actual human was standing in front of him.

"Are you done gawking at me Ken?" the figure, he couldn't be older than Ryo, asked. There was no anger, no malice, just a simple honest question. Ken knew the tone to be fake.

"What are you doing here?" Ken demanded.

"Temper, temper Ken. I'm simply here to keep you company, that's all," The insincerity was simply dripping from his smooth words, Ken didn't buy it, not this time, "with your precious friend Wormmon, your dearest brother's digimon, away at the moment the thought of you alone down here was simply appalling to me."

"Wormmon is…" 

"Your digimon? That's what they told you but you don't really believe it, do you? As well you shouldn't, because it isn't true. Oh, I know what you're thinking right now. If he, the 'evil one' says it's false than it must be true. But consider this Ken, have I ever lied to you?" 

Ken couldn't find the answer to that, in the few encounters they had there didn't seem to be a spoken lie. But not knowing about a lie didn't mean it never occurred.

"Maybe, maybe not," Ken said slowly, "but you are lying now. You're not here to keep me company, you're here to stop me."

"But of course I am here to keep you company, all the way down even. It's going up that I can't allow, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there. Come now, there isn't much time you know." He pointed a finger down the corridor. 

"You have to get down there somehow, so why not with me. Who knows, maybe you'll even get away from me later. But for that eventuality to happen you must first go down."

For a moment Ken didn't say anything and the Master, still the only name Ken knew for him, wasn't going to push him either way. He didn't have to, he had Ken right were he wanted him.

"Fine," Ken finally said. Side by side they went further into the temple.

"Let me tell you a little story Ken."

"Desperado Blaster!" Paildramon called out as he made another strafing run. Millenniumon growled, the impacting bullets were quite an annoyance. But that was all they were, an annoyance, nothing serious.

Paildramon shot straight up, narrowly avoiding a blast from Millenniumon. A few followed him in his ascend, but the next batch appeared above him. This was not good, Paildramon swore, he's to fast.

With a quick motion he changed directions again, straight towards Millenniumon. 

"And what good is that going to do! I'll enjoy ripping you apart," Millenniumon smirked, aiming his twin cannons at the approaching digimon. "Dimension Destroyer."  

Two bolts of power raced at Paildramon, with a grin he dived under them. There was a brief whooshing sound as he went under them as well as a slight burning sensation. Now he was flying directly above the desert floor, blowing away sand as he raced towards his target. Then he was right in front of the demon.

"Elemental Bolt!" He shouted, charging his fists with electricity. His guns weren't the only kind of attack he knew. Ending his approach Paildramon made a quick backflip, kicking Millenniumon on his chin halfway through the move. Kicking off from the ground a split second after landing he delivered the beast an uppercut before letting loose with a flurry of punches.

"How do you like that?" 

His answer came right after that taunt as one of Millenniumon's claws swatted him away like a pesky fly. The dragon barely knew what hit him when he flying backwards through the air. He hit the sand about a hundred meters from Millenniumon but that didn't stop him as he tumbled on the desert floor. Only a moment later he came to a stop and was back on his feet. As soon as he stood vertically again another energy blast was there to greet him. 

"Shit." He jumped away, but was still hit by the explosion when the blast hit the ground.

"Your hits are about as affective as a flymon's sting and you expect to beat me? Me?!" Millenniumon shouted. He watched Paildramon hit the sand hard, all the while he hadn't made a move from his position. He didn't need to with an enemy of this calibre, this whole endeavour seemed a bit anti-climactic to him. _How disappointing_, he thought. 

"Desperado Blaster!" Paidramon shouted again, shooting at the large target with everything he got. Millenniumon bent down, making all the bullets hit the energetic form on his back. There was a wail from the ethereal part of his body, but his physical head just laughed. Then his cannons levelled themselves with Paildramon and started shooting again. A stream of explosions approached the dragon man as the bolts of pure destructive energy impacted the ground closer and closer to him. He couldn't stay there that was certain. Making a quick dash to the left first Paildramon propelled himself into the air again. Millenniumon was only playing with him he realized and that made him angry. The chimera meanwhile had raised himself to his full height again. He would show him not to underestimate and evolved Victory Dragon. The dragon man continued to fly higher and higher till he had vanished from sight in the clouds of sands that still blew over the desert.

Both Ryo and Millenniumon's eyes were focused on the sky, trying to find the missing warrior. 

In the sky, hidden by sand and clouds, Paildramon was catching his breath, glad to have a little respite in the battle. There wasn't much time to rest though as Millenniumon was sure to focus on Ryo if he stayed away for to long. This wasn't just about resting though, but about executing a new attack. He closed his eyes and began to concentrate. A bluish hue appeared around his clenched fists, the air around him became grey.

"What's he doing up there?" Ryo wondered when the sky, brownish because of the sand, became partially grey. The clouds and sand around Paildramon started to swirl around him, creating a vortex that crackled with electricity. Bolts of lightning struck his fists, tiny arcs of power ran up from the arm blades and over his entire body. He revelled in the feeling as more electricity hit him, charging him up. He opened his eyes, a ferocious look was in them. 

"You're going down Millenniumon," Paildramon vowed, "it's time to feel the true power of the Elemental Bolt." 

With his body saturated with energy the dragon dove down rapidly, the clouds in his vortex trailing after him for a short while. In an instant he came back into the view of those waiting on the ground and barely a second later he was in Millenniumon's face. With lightning speed his right fist shot out to the chimera's face, but it was blocked by Millenniumon's upper left hand. His left fist shot out, but it too was blocked by Millenniumon, this time by his upper right hand. The large talons kept a strong hold on both of the dragon's arms, making it impossible for him to escape. Powerful arcs of energy coursed from Paildramon to Milllenniumon, but the demon bared it all. Paildramon couldn't let this go on and kicked out with both his legs to try and dislodge himself, but Millenniumon had two more arms left. Now he was totally at the chimera demon's mercy with his arms and legs in an iron vice. All the gathered electricity was now trying to fry Millenniumon, but it wasn't enough. 

"You, are begging to annoy me," Millenniumon hissed, "this time stay down, you can't beat me anyway!"

He hurled Paildramon away with his four arms, the warrior fell a long way and rolled on even further.    

"Shut up, he can beat you! He will beat you!" Another voice called out from another part of the battlefield. The two fighters both looked at Ryo, who had remained unnoticed for most of their fight. He was crouching in the sand, his digivice clasped tightly in his hand. His face showed immense concentration and anger, enough to unnerve both of the fighters.

"Ryo?" Paildramon whispered, managing to get into a crouch.

"You stand with him? Ryo?!" Millenniumon roared, his anger focused on the boy now. The boy's face turned even more murderous. 

"Of course you fool! What else would I do?" Ryo returned in kind, "Paildramon, get him!" 

The dragon warrior stood up from his crouching position feeling new power flow through him. A quick glance at his human partner showed the boy radiating with a blue light coming from the digivice. He had never felt this much power before in his life, it paled even in comparison with the feeling of becoming a perfect level digimon. It screamed at him, the power coursing through him demanded to be released, to be used against Millenniumon. _Well then so be it_, Paildramon thought. With a battle cry he once again lunged himself into battle.

Ken didn't know how long the two of them had been descending the sloping hallways to the centre of the ziggurat. For a while now his unwanted companion had been filling him in on the basics of this structure. And no matter how much he resented it he couldn't help but listen intently. The structure was incredibly old, almost as old as the digital world itself. Apparently it's some kind of monument to a gigantic struggle that happened somewhere in the past. Ken had asked him about it, but his companion shushed him, telling him they would cover it later when they would enter the lower halls. From the top the halls followed the shape of the pyramid down to the central chamber where some relics from the past were kept. The building itself, and this was something Ken found truly amazing, existed partially outside of time and this dimension. It explained the bizarre sight at the entrance and how Millenniumon couldn't destroy the place when he attacked it all out. 

The Master had laughed at that, saying something about time and dimensions being Millenniumon's element and a thing about not being serious yet. After that he quickly went back to his own little tale. He was so confident, so in control. Ken felt uneasy about it and in a way even jealous. The way he walked there in his strange uniform, which was even more imposing in a way than the dark cloak he wore before, was so incredible. Was it the clothes that gave him this amount of confidence and strength? Slowly Ken admitted to himself that the Master did look kind of cool, but that was not the way he wanted to think about an enemy. He couldn't help himself taking candid glances at the older boy next to him.

After a very terse explanation about the temple the Master took a step back in time and started telling him about the beginning of the digital world.

At the beginning the digital world didn't resemble the world as it was today, for one there was no Primary Village yet, that didn't come into being till much later. The lands were primal and in some places unstable. The digimon of that time had barely even evolved out of their child stages, but four were different. They were the four Sovereigns, Qinglongmon, Zhuqiaomon, Xuanwumon and Baihumon and they were all at Ultimate levels. The four of them were the gods of the digital world and for a time all was well.

"Of course that couldn't last, the very nature of the universe wouldn't allow it," the Master explained assuredly, "you see they were all good and so was the digital world. Sure parts of it were brutal to say the least, but it was not evil. There has to be a balance, good and evil, yin and yang, love and hate and crap like that. And so we come to this." 

He gestured to the wall at their left, the normal stonewall had given way for something else. The empty spaces between the torches were replaced by carvings in the stone, like painting made out of rock. 

The one they were looking at depicted four great beasts on a rugged landscape. Two of them stood on the ground, a giant two-headed turtle and a powerful tiger. Above them flew a huge bird, like the mythical phoenix. And above that one, streaking through the clouds was a great dragon.

"Yes that's them, the four fools. They didn't realize the necessity for balance in time and when they did it was already to late. The good they did had to be offset by evil, so a great evil came from the Dark Area, a very foreboding place." 

The two boys had now reached the second carving, this one showed a land laid in ruin, a sky in turmoil hanging above it. In fire and darkness stood the evil creature the Master mentioned. He seemed truly evil, even his image seemed to pulse with it. His upper body was humanoid and quite dark, he had long arms like Millenniumon's that were stretched out to the side as if he wanted to encompass the entire world. There was an evil smirk on his face. His lower body was a large polyhedron shaped machine. Chains came from the sides and attached to that were giant claws. Smaller shadowed figures emerged from the darkness underneath him to claim the world.

"Yes, that's him, Apocalymon. His coming to the digital world nearly finished it forever, his very presence was tearing it apart. It was only because of the Sovereigns using their powers that this place managed to stay mostly in one piece. However this left them drained and unable to fight Apocalymon. Meanwhile his dark evolved minions roamed the world nearly unopposed. There were pockets of resistance but they didn't last long. Soon the digimon loyal to the Sovereigns had to retreat. Things looked mighty bleak for a while." 

"So what happened then?" Ken asked despite of himself.

"It so happened that the Digital World is connected to Earth even in it's primal stages. Some digimon showed an unusual link with other beings. For a while Qinglongmon had been secretly researching this interesting possibility. Though not all the Sovereigns were for it, it was decided that they would bring these so-called humans to the digital world. 

The Sovereign used what power he could spare to unite the six digimon he had been studying with their human partners, but in the process he noticed something was wrong, a complication. One of them was far too young to be of use so in the end only five of them were brought over."

The third image showed five human figures in a show of light. They were all children of either his age or Ryo's. 

"They were the very first Chosen, but unlike those that came after them they did not use digivices. Instead they were linked directly and completely with their digimon, making them strong but also more vulnerable. The five Chosen along with the six digimon set out to fight Apocalymon and his minions. They weren't alone though, many digimon allied themselves to the group including him."

The Master pointed at another painting of a young boy, but only a first glance. He had tattoos over his body and wore a white robe, like a toga. Amazingly was that he had six pair of white wings. _An angel_, Ken thought.

"His name was Lucemon, an angel at his child level. He led a group of digimon known as the Holy Corps. Generally a friendly chap, though he was envious of the power the Chosen could give their digimon. But I'm getting ahead of myself. 

The Chosen fought bravely, but even though they could evolve their digimon they were horribly outmatched. It was then that one of them devised a way for their allies to evolve as well. She made the very first Digimentals, a feat that started to turn the tides in the war."

The Master made a quick gesture to an image showing two groups of digimon fighting each other.

"In the end they fought here at this precise location, the forces of good versus evil."

"And good won," Ken concluded.

"That depends on how you look at it," the Master shrugged.

"What do you mean?"

"Well you're right, the Chosen and their allies destroyed Apocalymon, but since he was the embodiment of evil he could not be destroyed so easily. Fortunately they came prepared for this eventuality. As his destroyed body was reforming itself they planned to seal it in a containment crystal they had devised. Unfortunately however this was not to be, thanks to two other digimon. One of them was good old number six, who had resented being left alone. He wanted desperately to find his partner and desired power to do it. The other was Lucemon, his jealousy and desire for power was too great in the end."   

They came to the next picture in line. It showed them Lucemon, basking himself in the storm of data fragments left by Apocalymon, a manic glint was visible even in the stone portrait. As an after image it showed what he was transforming into, a robed demon.

"What this particular image doesn't show is the sixth digimon who was also leeching Apocalymon's power. Before any could react the data had been completely absorbed, transforming the angel into a demon. Just when they thought they had won they were faced with another enemy."

"What happened then?" 

"There was an open rift to a part of the Dark Area which had been opened by Apocalymon. Demon never had much time to enjoy his warp evolution to power as the battle weary Chosen locked him and his followers away." 

"Wow," Ken breathed.

"Indeed. After that they rallied their troops and scattered the remaining enemy digimon as well as the four generals. A firewall was created to lock out the Dark Area once and for all, though that was doomed to failure as well, though it did work for a considerate amount of time. The digital world was thrown out of sync with the 'Real World' that's why everything is so much older than it should be. Hell, in human years it couldn't have been more than ten years or so ago."

"That's incredible, but what happened to the Chosen after that?" 

"Funny you should ask that," the Master grinned, "But sadly story time is over, we're at the end of the line." 

Indeed the hallway had ended at a large stone door, decorated with stone curls and in the centre a huge seal depicting the four holy beasts.

"You see Ken, pleasant as this little venture has been, I can't let you live," The Master smirked evilly. Slowly Ken edged away from the menacing form of his companion till he bumped into the wall behind him. Had he turned around he would have seen the last image, where five human children were connected to five powerful digimon by a stream of energy, transforming them into something beyond human or digimon. There were four boys and one girl, all of them roughly between ten and fourteen years old. The picture showed them to be tired, but also happy. The girl was smiling.

"You can't escape us Ken, it's a long way up and you can't just leave empty-handed now can you? On the other hand Akiyama could have been beaten already so all of this is useless anyway."

Ken scowled in consternation knowing his foe was right. Even if he did get out of the temple unharmed what would it matter if they couldn't defeat Millenniumon, but he would not believe Ryo had lost, not that. Something struck his as odd then, something the Master said. The stone girl's smile seemed more real, there even was a certain spark in her eyes.

"Wait, what do you mean 'we'?" Ken questioned, the Master's smirk widened.

"I'll show you. Renamon." 

The air next to the older boy shimmered for a moment before a tall humanoid fox appeared out of nowhere. He stared coldly at Ken with his inhuman eyes, a sudden chill went through Ken's body seeing the creature stare at him. A translucent image hung over the stone portrait of the girl, making her seem almost alive. She had short red hair and bright green eyes that seemed to get brighter by the second. A second image of someone older wearing robes and with it's face hidden under a cowl projected over the first one. No one seemed to notice at first, certainly not Ken who got his back to it. But since he was standing right next to the girl it was hard not to see it for the boy's opposition.    

"Renamon, kill him," the Master ordered. A split second later Renamon lunged at him.

"_No!_" A female voice shouted in their minds as a light shot forth from the wall. The attacking fox was stopped in mid-stride. An aura of light both enveloped him and his master, keeping them from moving even an inch. 

"What?" Ken breathed. 

"Don't think this can keep us imprisoned forever, witch," the Master threatened, both he and Renamon were thrashing in their bonds even though to the naked eye they didn't move at all. The snarl on the fox's face was only all too real, vicious and really close to the young boy so he quickly scuffled away from the wall and closer to the locked door.

"Who are you?" He asked, looking around for the source of the voice. Aside from him and the two captives there was no one there though. 

_"That's not important right now, I can't keep them here forever and you have a job to do, don't you?"_ The voice sounded again in their heads. 

"Yeah Ken, she can't keep us locked here forever. Even trapping us for this long must be a strain on the old hag." The Master called over.

"Hey, that's not nice!" Ken yelled.

"And what can either you or she do about it? Whine some more?" The Master huffed. Ken was about to reply when the voice spoke again in his mind.

_"Don't be fooled, he's only trying to stall you. You've got to get moving." _

"Right," Ken said and quickly turned towards the door. This was the first time he could get a good look at it and the seal. The four Sovereigns looked truly impressive. He wondered how he was supposed to enter the chamber behind it since the door was obviously completely sealed. Tentatively he moved his right hand to touch the stone barrier, but before he got within an inch of it there was a clicking sound. After that the door opened up before him giving him access to the central chamber. The chamber was quite big and a lot wider than the hallways he had traversed earlier. There was a path, lined with a red carpet of all things, which led to the altar at the other end of the room. Tentatively he crossed the threshold and walked over to the shrine, all the while looking around at the splendour of this room. Unlike everything else this room was completely made out of gold, the floor, the walls, the ceiling, everything. Five short columns, three at the left and two at the right, graced the floor around the carpet. On them were small statues of five humans, the first Chosen, and their digimon in their Ultimate forms. The walls too were covered in images of a great variety of digimon, most likely all the ones who fought together with the Chosen. This was truly a monument of epic proportions, a testament to something long forgotten.

Now in the room and apparently alone Ken couldn't help but ask again, "Who are you?"

_"I am but a spirit long gone from this world and my ties to it have been fading by the day. Once I was able to appear to a group of Chosen by the help of a special child, but those days are over. Now only in this place, where the fabric of time and space is weakest can I still touch this world. After today though, that path will be blocked to me as well,"_ there was a hint of sadness in the voice.

"Is it because you helped me?" the boy wondered.

_"Yes, but don't blame yourself on my account, I've been fading for a long time. This was inevitable from the beginning and I'm glad I got to do something good before the end,"_ she sounded strained all of a sudden. Ken looked back to see the aura of light flicker on and off for a few seconds. 

_"Quickly, grab what you need and leave. I won't be able to hold them for much longer."_

Ken stood before the altar now, which was quite big, to, big since all it held were two small items. One was a blue crystal, the one they needed in order to beat Millenniumon, and the other...

"Golden Digimental, the final piece," Ken exclaimed, taking both items in his arms. For a moment he feared he might have triggered some trap by taking these relics from their place, but no such thing happened. Taking one final look at the splendour around him he took off in a run towards the exit, streaking past his two helpless enemies when he left the inner chamber.

"Run Ken, run like the wind," the Master taunted. His evil laughter pursuit Ken as the boy raced through the ascending hallways. To bad going up was more tiresome than going down. Soon the tapping of his feet could no longer be heard by those left behind.

"Well so much for that," the Master said smugly, "Renamon do it." 

"Fox Change Void!" Renamon exclaimed. His body started to shimmer as he tried to pass out of this dimension, though he was still kept into place. The surrounding light started to fade again that though, blinking more rapidly than before, but it still kept them into place.

Ken ran on in silence, but the climb was quickly draining his strength. Already he had passed the Halls of Images, as he thought of them. Now the walls were simply undecorated stones again. When they had gone down he had been glad to see the stone carvings, now he was glad they were behind him. It showed he made progress, but he still had a long way to go. Since leaving with the two relics he hadn't heard a word from that mysterious voice anymore. He wondered if she was alright, but more importantly he feared that the Master and that fox digimon had already escaped. If so than he was in serious trouble. The shadows cast by the lights on the walls seemed to jump out at him with every step that he took. Whenever he had to round a corner he expected to find someone there waiting for him. It didn't happen, not even when he slowed down more and more as time progressed. He was getting tired, not surprising after having had to walk all day in the desert either. After a while, he didn't know how long he finally got to the shrine at the top of the ziggurat. The entrance in front of him looked just as foggy as it did when he had entered it some time ago. 

"I did it, I really did it. Hang on guys, I'm coming!" Ken said enthusiastically as he ran through the fog. He had hardly even set one foot outside of the temple before he stood still again. His eyes widened as though he had received a punch, but it was only the heat. For a while he had forgotten how much colder it had been inside compared to the heat of the desert itself. Slowly he shook his head to clear his senses.

The field of battle seemed almost exactly as he remembered it, Millenniumon was even standing in the same place as before. At some distance away Paildramon burst forth from a crouching position to attack Millenniumon.

"I have to find Ryo," Ken whispered. His eyes scanned the desert floor but because of the dust clouds so close to the ground he couldn't make him out. That was until he saw a soft blue light somewhere. It had to be Ryo he reasoned and bound down the large ramp to the ground below.

It didn't take long for the demon chimera to react to Paildramon's charge. The dragon man seemed faster now, more powerful. Shooting a few volleys of energy blasts at the approaching menace he made a glance at the boy. There was power there, he could feel it. But he wasn't the recipient of that power, the measly perfection was. In his eyes, those blue eyes, was the awakening of true potential, they even glowed faintly with the same light coming from the digivice. It was sustaining Paildramon, making him more powerful. 

A movement caught his eye, Paildramon had lumped in the air to avoid getting hit by his attack. He was ascending quickly while never stopping his approach. His large hands had grabbed hold of his guns. _So be it_, Millenniumon thought, _this clash won't take long_.

He had never felt more alive than he did now, the powerful blasts of his enemy streaked by underneath him, exploding harmlessly in the sand. 

"Desperado Blaster," he said, firing of shots from his twin guns. None hit their target as Millenniumon caught the attack with his own. The dragon strafed to the side to avoid getting hit. He was faster than the blasts his enemy fired at him, so as long as he kept his wits about him he would be fine. And speaking of wits.

"Is that the best you've got? I'm to fast, you should just give up. You've run all out of time," Paildramon taunted. He streaked through the air, keeping his guns trained on Millenniumon shooting bullets at any chance he got. A lot missed, at his current speed and manoeuvring he couldn't aim properly. Some did hit their mark though and, unlike before, this time they bit into the chimera's flesh leaving behind wounds. The chimera hissed in rage. 

"Time," Millenniumon said loudly, "is always on my side. Time Unlimited!" 

"What?" The dragon barely had enough time to say that when the world around him started to look duller. The colours, the sounds, they all got more vague and slower. And so was he. Even before he realized what had happened he was hanging dead in the air, an easy target for anyone who'd want to take a shot at him.

"See, I told you time was on my side," Millenniumon remarked viciously, "now what to do with you, what to do with you? So many choices, so little time. Maybe I should just make more time for you, what do you say?"

Paildramon tried to break free but even with the added power he had received it was of no use. He mentally cursed himself for his over confidence. Now he was at the mercy of this monster and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Say goodbye upstart," the demon hissed, "Dimension Destroyer!"

As time was still not working right for him Paildramon could only watch in horror as two balls of scorching energy approached him as in slow-motion. He could see the energy churning inside of the semi-spheres. If only he wasn't trapped in this temporal anomaly he would have had no problems with this attack. Ryo. With the attack almost on top of him he wanted to see the boy one more time. Ryo was still all right, looking strained, but still alive and breathing. A beacon of blue light shone in his hand, his digivice. Even now the boy was still giving him power, but it was obviously a strain on him. Then out of nowhere someone else stood there next to Ryo, a blue haired boy. _Ken, he's back already? But it couldn't have been more than a few minutes at most_, Paildramon thought, unaware of the time difference between the inside of the temple and the world outside. Well at least there was that, he reckoned before his vision got totally filled with energy. 

"Ryo!" Ken called out before coming to a stop before him. He was panting after all the amount of running he had been doing. Ryo glanced at him briefly before focusing back on their joined digimon. He felt Ken's stare on him and his digivice but he ignored it. Ken followed his friend's eyes to where Paildramon was, just in time to see the explosion that ensued when he got hit. The dragon let out a roar of pain as he was flung away like a rag doll and crashed into the sand.

Ryo's eyes nearly bulged out of his head as he doubled over in pain. He fell to his knees, dropping his digivice as he stopped his fall with is hands. He coughed up blood, watching the red liquid spread out on the sand before disintegrating. He felt a hand touched him on his back, Ken's. The younger boy was down on the ground with him looking very worried. For a moment his body became partly destabilized as he seemed to turn into data fragments himself, but he pulled himself together. Picking up his digivice he let Ken help him up to his feet. The small apparatus had stopped shining the moment he dropped it but now that it was back in his hand he was once again channelling power to his digimon, as dangerous as that may be though. 

Millenniumon turned to the two boys, feeling the energy flow to Paildramon continue. He snarled at seeing Ken there, the boy was never supposed to leave the damned ziggurat ever again. Obviously his operatives had failed him. Fortunately that was a mistake that could be easily rectified.  Slowly he stepped towards the two boys.

"The coward returns," Millenniumon said, "and just in time to die."

"No!" A voice roared behind the chimera, several painful stings ran up across his back. Paildramon, thanks to Ryo, had managed to stay Jogressed after getting hit. Thanks to a new infusion of energy from Ryo he had climbed back on his feet only to see the demon threatening his Chosen. Twisting around in the air after he had flown over the chimera's large body he landed in front of the two humans. All the while his guns emptied round after round into Millenniumon's body. Thanks to the extra strength he had received from Ryo all the bullets managed to hurt the dark god. The beast grunted and involuntarily took a step back. 

But this couldn't go on much longer, that last blast had taken more out of him than he cared to admit. Whatever he did he had to finish this fight now or he would never get another chance. Taking a deep breath he started focusing all the energy he had left in his body into his two guns. The power summoned made his weapons shake in his hands but he didn't let go, instead keeping them aimed at Millenniumon's chest. The demon looked at him for a moment before cocking his own cannons at Paildramon, gathering energy himself. It was a race against the clock to see who had gathered his power first. The wounds had taken some of the speed away from Millenniumon, giving Paildramon those few valuable seconds he needed to collect all the power he needed. The ends of his guns were glowing with power begging to be released. 

"Desperado Blaster!" He called out and pulled the triggers. Instead of an array of bullets like usual there were two powerful blasts, one for each gun that shot at Millenniumon. His energy spend the dragon warrior reverted back into V-mon and Wormmon. A sigh escaped Ryo's lips as he stopped the flow of energy, his digivice quickly losing its glow.

A screech drew their attention to Millenniumon, the energy from Paildramon's attack cut right through his body. Wailing he fell down to the earth, the arms on his energy form flailing into the air before he blew apart into small data fragments. Due to the sheer size and power of the beast it was a large cloud of dark particles that hung above the ground.

"We won," Ken said slowly, and then more assertively, "we won!"

"And we did it all on our own," Ryo breathed, then looked at Ken, "looks like we didn't need the crystal after all…what's that?" 

Ken handed him the shard of the golden digimental. Once in his hands it shone brightly before going into the D-Terminal to join its brethren. Flipping the handheld device open it showed an image of a complete egg, only a tad to late to be of any help. He sighed as he pocketed the device again. The boy then handed over the crystal and Ryo took a moment to look at it. It didn't look like much and now they wouldn't get a chance to see what it could do. Not that it mattered, in fact he was glad they had managed to do it without it.

Ryo noticed Ken looked worried, " What's wrong?" 

"Nothing, but I wonder if it's really over," he said softly, staring it the remains of Millenniumon that still hung in the air. For some reason the fragments hadn't dissipated yet. "Something feels wrong."

But Ryo shook his head, "No, we beat him that's all there is to it."

He was just about to say something more to relax his young friend when Ken's eyes narrowed and he suddenly lunged at him. To surprised to react he fell on the ground behind him, Ken lying partially on top of him. Ryo sat up straight, looking both angry and surprised and ready to give the boy the talking to of his life. That was when Ken started screaming and trashing in pain on the ground.

"Ken! What's the matter?!" Ryo shouted, grabbing the boy's shoulders and holding him close to him, " Ken!" 

What none of them except for Ken had seen was that a few of those dust specks had broken off from the main cloud. With great speed they hurled themselves at them, no, at Ryo. In a split second Ken knew he couldn't let that happen. Now all there was, all that existed for him, was pain. It had started out in his neck, but had quickly spread through his entire body. He was dimly aware that people were shouting and that someone was screaming. He lacked the presence of mind to realize it was he who was screaming. When darkness finally fell he welcomed its presence.

"He's fainted," Ryo concluded when the boy stopped his screaming. When he put a hand on Ken's forehead it felt feverish.

"No, Ken, no, no, no!" Wormmon said worriedly. 

"He's going to be alright Wormmon," Ryo tried to reassure the caterpillar, wishing someone could reassure him. V-mon looked angrily at the site where Millenniumon had stood before he exploded.

"Why is this happening, we've won didn't we?" V-mon spoke, trailing of more and more at the end. Looking horrified he suddenly shouted, "Ryo! He's reforming!"

The cloud of data particles was coming back together instead of dissipating, many had already coalesced into larger, more solid, pieces. It wouldn't be long before Millenniumon would be whole again and without Ken they couldn't Jogress anymore. The two digimon did not have enough power left to pull it off, nor did Ryo think he could channel his energy into V-mon like he had done before. He didn't even know how he had done so, the entire process was completely different from when he helped to evolve V-mon. 

His eyes fell on the crystal that Ken had brought back from the temple, lying almost forgotten in the sand after the boy had fallen. It was now their only chance of truly defeating Millenniumon, hopefully it would work like Gennai had promised. Laying Ken down on the sand gently Ryo made a grab for the crystal and stood up. He had no idea how this thing was supposed to work

"I will not let you revive yourself demon, you shall not escape me!" Ryo shouted obstinately, holding out the crystal in front of him. At first nothing happened, but then it started to glow and shake in his hand. A small vortex opened in front of the crystal, its pull getting stronger rapidly. First the smaller fragments of Millenniumon's data got sucked in, the larger parts followed soon after.

"It's working! Take that you freak," V-mon exclaimed.

When all the particles had been taken in the vortex closed, leaving behind an ordinary blue crystal, a hot blue crystal. In surprise Ryo dropped it and let it fall into the sand. The sandstorm had begun to pick up intensity again and started to cover it up. Ryo couldn't care less, let the damned thing be buried under the sands for eternity. All he knew was that one way or another he had to get Ken out of this desert as soon as possible.

"Ken won't be able to walk," Ryo said sadly, the joy of beating their enemy was overshadowed by worry about Ken, "V-mon, do you think you can evolve to V-dramon?"

"I think so, with a little help."

"You've got it," Ryo nodded and held up his digivice to aid V-mon in evolving.

With Ken held in the victory dragon's arms and Wormmon on his back the four tired warriors set out to find Gennai. They were low on power, low on water and low on spirit, but at least they had saved the digital world and that gave them at least some satisfaction.

Minutes after the Chosen had left the scene two other figures walked over to where Ryo had held his final stand and defeated Millenniumon with his crystal. They thought they had won forever, but unlike Ryo, V-mon and Wormmon they knew that was not so. Ken knew, but he was incapacitated and unfit to inform them that the crystal was a containment vessel and nothing more. Inside of it the data of Millenniumon still existed and would continue to grow in power. 

"It's not over yet Akiyama, in fact it's just beginning."

Inside the clear blue crystal at its centre darkness was forming, it was only small now but that would change in time. 

"Let's get out of here, we've got work to do," the Master ordered his companion.

**Author's Notes**:

To quote one of the characters, it's not over yet. You'll know the ending when you see its chapter title, which will be 'epilogue'. Simple, yet effective, and not to appear for a considerate amount of chapters.

Not much else to say this time, the history given in the temple will be elaborated at a later time and looks pretty straightforward to me. Of course if there are any questions I'll be glad to answer them as long as they are not related to some of my future plans.

I'm really interested in hearing what you've thought of this chapter, so please leave a review. Getting the characters to behave right (that means you Mille and Ryo) took a lot of rewrites. Hence the lateness of this chapter.

Next chapter:

Ken is sick, the cause unknown, if he will recover is anyone's guess. While Ryo would like nothing more than to stay at his friend's side a new emergency of some kind arises that demands his attention.


	21. Friends and Foes alike

**Chapter 20: Friends and Foes alike**

Ryo's log: August 2000, Gennai's house, digiworld

It's been almost a week now and Ken still hasn't woken up. He seems to be getting better, at least he doesn't scream in his sleep anymore. Gennai says he has no idea what is wrong with him, but that he is confident Ken will recover. 

We were lucky to be discovered by Airdramon, who had opted to venture in the desert after us. The dragon felt bad about deserting us, or should I say, Ken. Thanks to him we managed to reach Gennai a lot faster, if at all. The journey back through the desert, with almost no supplies, was not a good one. Without the dragon we may have been lost forever. 

End log.

Ryo sighed, peering through a crack in the door at his fallen friend. Wormmon was doing a silent vigil ever since they had gotten back, never once leaving the boy's side. He too had been staying at Ken's side most of the time, talking to him as if he were awake. Of course Ken gave no signs of knowing they were there, but Ryo had heard somewhere that people in comas could still hear what happened around them. While he didn't know if this was true or not he took comfort from the slim hope that it could be possible. If Ken was aware than he wanted the boy to know that he was not alone, that they were all there for him. 

Leaving the room alone for now he went to find the kitchen to get himself some breakfast. He shook his head to clear his mind of some unwanted visions from last night and the nights before that. The dreams, or more like the nightmares, had begun shortly after Mugen Dramon and Chimeramon had fused into one being. They were strange and always contained his nemesis in one form or another. This time it had been his mother, saying that it was wrong to have fought and that they should reconcile. In the haze of the dream he had dismissed the fact that he was not aware of any conflict between them, so of course he had said that they should make up. With a twisted smile and in Millenniumon's voice his mother said she was very happy to hear that.

_I don't understand, Millenniumon is dead so why am I still having nightmare about him?_ Ryo wondered. Maybe it was just that the worries about Ken's condition stopped him from letting go of the past. Perhaps he should talk about it with Gennai, but something inside of him stopped him. They were only nightmare, nothing more.

He found the kitchen abandoned, like it always was. V-mon was usually up before him and Gennai never seemed to eat. He took bites of something, or had some tea when they were all together, but Ryo suspected it was only for keeping up appearances.

Once in the kitchen he wasted little time in putting some stuff together, his mind so focused on his troubles that after he had finished he couldn't even remember what he had eaten. It seemed to get worse every morning; the nightmares and the sickness of his friend were sapping his strength. 

_You've got to get better Ken, you just have to_. If there was one thing Ryo hated it was feeling useless like this, he had to _do_ something. 

"He has to come, there is no other way," an elderly, but powerful voice said. 

"Is it really necessary to put him through this now, you know I have Ken here? He would want to stay with him till he recovers. Surely there is another way?" Another voice asked. When only silence greeted him he sighed. What the other had said was true; he knew that from the beginning. But that didn't make it any easier to bear. 

"I understand," he continued, "I understand that he was to go for all our sakes. That doesn't mean I have to like it, or keep them in the dark considering Ken's condition."

"You do what you have to do, Gennai of the Order. We all have our parts to play as much as we would like to differently," the other said, sounding just a tad sad about using the Chosen as pawns.

"I know Qinglongmon, I know," Gennai said, breaking the connection as he slipped out of his meditation. He looked around his beautiful house and garden wistfully, regretting what he had to do next. However, as always, the fate of the digital world hung in the balance. He was glad he had to deal with Qinglongmon though; the dragon Sovereign was at least sympathetic towards humans. If it was Zhuqiaomon, well, the bird of fire wouldn't hesitate to send some humans to their deaths if it benefited the digital world.

The old man got up to find Ryo and V-mon and tell them the bad news.

Putting away the dishes Ryo was about to head back to Ken's room when he found Gennai and V-mon waiting for him in the doorway. He wondered what this was about, he usually only saw Gennai in the afternoon when he was helping the sage in some capacity or another. Over the last few days he had gotten quite some knowledge from the old man about the digital world, but still nothing about Ken's condition. Together, though it was mostly Gennai doing the work, they had pieced together that the distortions that brought the digital world out of sync with Earth were starting to lessen. It wouldn't be long till things were restored completely. Already it was possible to return to Earth, but Ryo had opted to stay for a while. Time hadn't completely stabilized between the worlds yet, every day here took about a minute or so on Earth. So here Ken had more time to get better.

"What's the matter Gennai, V-mon?" Ryo asked apprehensively. V-mon just shrugged, but Gennai looked pensive. Could it be that he knew something more about Ken? From the looks of it whatever it could be wasn't good.

"I need to speak to you both," Gennai said. 

"What about?" V-mon questioned. Gennai gestured for both of them to follow him. He quickly, and silently, led them to a porch. The view on the garden from this angle was quite nice and exactly why Gennai chose this place to brief them about the upcoming situation.

"What's wrong Gennai?" Ryo asked, having been around for a while he noticed that something was really bothering the old man, "Is it about Ken?"

"No, not really," Gennai began, "actually it is about you two."

"Us? What did we do?" V-mon wondered, "Whatever it is we're innocent. Right Ryo?"

"Right, it wasn't us who raided the fridge," Ryo joked, but the atmosphere remained kind of tense. Gennai was usually the first to laugh at corny jokes like that.

"It's not something you did, but something you are going to do," Gennai stated calmly, but giving both of them a stern look. They both fidgeted uncomfortably for no reason at all. The tension was broken by Gennai when he smiled.

"Oh, don't look like that; it's not going to be that bad. It's just that there is another assignment for you both, a very important one."

"An assignment?" Ryo said, wondering why Gennai was making such a big deal of it then. His odd behaviour was almost enough to give him a heart attack. V-mon was thinking along similar lines, only he wasn't so subtle about it.

"Is that it?" V-mon protested loudly, "couldn't you just say it without all this pretence?"

"Not really, you see for you two to do this you'll have to leave this house."

"And leave Ken behind," Ryo concluded. 

"Yes, that's right. I wished you could stay here while he recuperates, but unfortunately that's not possible. It is very important that you go and as soon as possible."

"So what is this thing about?" V-mon asked.

"I can't tell you that, you'll be informed when you get there," Gennai said, "I know someone who will take you there." 

"Is there still time to say goodbye to Ken?" 

"Of course there is Ryo, of course there is," Gennai said empathically.

"How is he Wormmon?" Ryo asked softly the moment he entered Ken's room. The caterpillar looked at him for a moment with those sad eyes before looking at the unconscious boy again. It looked like he was just sleeping, but that was only an illusion. This was no normal sleep, one he could simply wake up from. This was one to last. If it weren't for the soft breathing noises he would have appeared to be dead.

"There's no change," he said sadly. Wormmon was always close to the young boy, usually at the position he was now, sitting on the pillow to the right of Ken's head. He brushed a lock of hair from Ken's face with his little arm. 

Ryo took a seat on the chair on the left side of Ken's bed, V-mon hopped on the bed by Ken's legs.

"Hey Ken," Ryo said gently, taking the boy's right hand in between his, "you're looking better. It's about time to wake up don't you think? Things have been mighty boring without you around." 

He always started like this, only with different wordings, the message was always the same. The sight of Ken like this unnerved him more than he cared to admit, but he refused to give up hope that the boy would recover. The sceptic and pessimistic side of him whispered that it would take a miracle, that it was impossible. But all they had done had seemed impossible at first and taught him beyond a shadow of a doubt that _nothing_ was impossible if you really tried. Nothing, except bringing Ken back to full health.

"I, I can't stay long Ken," Ryo said slowly, drawing Wormmon's attention, "Gennai has another mission for us, an important one. I wish you could come with me, it won't be the same without you by my side."

There was no response from Ken, the boy remained completely silent, only the sound of his shallow breathing could be heard from him. 

"I'll be back as soon as I can, I promise." 

Giving the boy's hand a heartfelt squeeze Ryo stood up and walked over to the door. Halfway there he stopped and looked back. 

"Take good care of him Wormmon," Ryo said.

"I will," Wormmon nodded. Together Ryo and V-mon went over to the door, leaving Wormmon behind with a bed stricken Ken. As much as he would have wanted to stay, to protest against Gennai, he knew that was wrong. The Digital World needed him more than Ken right now.

"Ryo," Wormmon called out when they had gone through the doorway. Ryo turned his head back to the bed.

"Be careful and come back safely."

"Hey, you know me," Ryo said with a smile before closing the door behind him.

"That's what worries me," Wormmon said when he was again left alone.

"He looks so pale," V-mon said, "and sweaty."

"I know," Ryo answered. Next up on places to visit was his room, to get the D-Terminal and his digivice. Here, in the sanctity of Gennai's home, he had seen no need to carry those things with him. There was no need to carry weapons, for in the end that's what they are, with him. He had thought that he could rest longer, that his fighting days were over after beating Millenniumon. While his adventures held a lot of excitement and, yes, even fun, he really needed a long break. Certainly after what had befallen Ken. No such luck though.

"It still bugs me that we have no idea what is causing this to Ken. And right after Millenniumon was shot to pieces as well." V-mon frowned.

"I'm just glad he isn't screaming every night anymore," Ryo replied, "You're sure there are no diseases like this in the Digital World?"  
"I'm sure, Gennai's sure," V-mon huffed," as far as I know there are no diseases like that at all in the Digital World. Sure we can get a cold or something like that, but nothing worse. Maybe an allergic reaction is to blame?" 

"But to what and why to such an extend, and so suddenly?"

Over the course of the past few days they had been discussing Ken's condition almost every time they spoke to each other. Several theories, like the allergy theory, had come up but none of them had led to discovering what was really wrong with Ken. The both of them felt somehow responsible, that this could have been prevented somehow. Maybe something had happened to him in the ziggurat, maybe something had been in there with him. Of course there was no way of knowing now, there was no guarantee that even if something had been there then that it was still there now. Still Ryo and V-mon would have preferred to check it out anyway if Gennai hadn't objected. The old sage said it was more important for them to stay instead of going out on a wild goose chase.

He didn't want to think about it anymore so he concentrated more on his surroundings. The hallway that led to his room was well lit, old fashioned and skilfully-crafted lamps hung on the wall to their right. The left wall was made of glass, giving a good view of the garden on the outside. It was a trick Ryo knew, he had walked around the entire place on the outside but there was no such windowed hallway from out there. Only a quaint little house with very small windows, through which you could see nothing of the inside by the way, stood there in the hidden garden. There was a faint rustling of leaves blowing slowly in the wind coming, supposedly, from outside. It had a calming effect for those we were open for it, which Ryo was not at the moment. Beneath him the wooden floorboards creaked softly. 

Ryo stopped at door on his right, a rather plain looking door. 

"I'll be right back," he said to V-mon and entered his room. Aside from a bed, a desk, chair, some closets and a large mirror, there wasn't really anything of interest there. Leaving V-mon to wait in the door opening he crossed the room to the desk and the two devices he needed, his digivice and D-Terminal. 

Absentmindedly he put the D-Terminal in a back pocket of his brown pants while he strapped the digivice to his belt. He caught his reflection in the large mirror and took a moment to stare back at the twelve year old boy he saw there. He still wore the same clothes he did when he came here weeks ago. His white sneakers still looked as good as new, though he still had to wipe the dust off of them after he came back from the desert. Being composed of data kept the clothes relatively clean for long periods of time, but for his own peace of mind he had still washed them in Gennai's house. His purple shirt had gotten quite dusty in the desert and so had his white gloves. His gaze landed finally on the head of his reflection, staring deeply into his own eyes. Were they always this severe? While he still looked generally the same there was a hardness in them that wasn't there a few weeks ago. He looked a little longer and saw the look disappear, making him look more like the boy he used to be. _I'll have to remember that look for my enemies_, he thought with a smirk.    

"You done gawking at yourself, 'pretty boy'?" V-mon quipped.

"Yeah I'm done,"Ryo replied with a faint smile, "What do you think this is about anyway?"

"No clue, with Gennai involved it is rarely clear. I mean when he told me to go and find you I had no idea things would turn out like this. But look on the bright side, at least this time it won't be a venerable god we're up against."

"True," Ryo concurred.

A few minutes later they found Gennai waiting for them in the garden, the one that was hidden somehow from the rest of the world by a barrier. Ryo would have liked to know how exactly it worked but he could find no information on it and no one was willing to tell him, if they even knew themselves. From outside the barrier this was just grass plain at the edge of a desert, nothing more. It was quite beautiful, but Gennai and V-mon insisted it was nothing compared to his lake house which, unbelievable as it may sound, lay completely under the water. 

Walking calmly up to the old sage they could see they were not alone, a large blue dragon was there with them.

"Hello Airdramon, still hanging around?" Ryo asked.

"Yes, but not for long. I will be leaving soon, though I would have liked to say goodbye to the small lad," Airdramon replied.

"Oh, you're leaving? What a coincidence, so are we. Where are you going to?" V-mon asked.

"He's going to take you to where you need to go," Gennai interrupted. 

"What? He is?" V-mon exclaimed.

"Didn't I just say that?" Gennai wondered out loud.

"So where exactly are we going?" Ryo asked.

"There is a coliseum in the desert," Gennai started saying.

"A desert, why am I not surprised," V-mon muttered.

Gennai ignored the interruption and continued, "If you go on foot it will simply take to much time to get there, so I asked Airdramon if he would be so kind as to bring you there. He has graciously accepted this task." 

"What do we do there?" 

"You'll find out soon enough." Gennai replied.

The wind whipped past his face, his spiky hair blown back even more. For a while now, probably hours, they had been flying above a pure white sea, an ocean of sand. Small brown islands, patches of rock, appeared sporadically below them. From way up in the air it actually looked pretty, while to those down on the ground it could be nothing more than pure desperation. He knew what it was like, he had been there himself. 

According to Gennai the flight would only take a couple of hours, but it had been ten already, not counting the time they had taken breaks. The sun was setting on the horizon, giving off an orange light. It gave a sort of magical effect to the sand below them, like out of an old fairytale. The rest of the area didn't change; all around them were sand dunes and the occasional rocky outcroppings. Ryo yawned, the monotony of the trip was really getting to him. He, and most likely V-mon too, would have already fallen asleep if they weren't way up in the sky. 

"We're almost there," Airdramon spoke up suddenly, breaking the silence that had been reigning for about an hour now.

"That's what you said a few hours ago as well," V-mon said tiredly.

"But this time it's true," Airdramon protested, "look right there in front of us." 

Indeed something new began to emerge in the distance, it wasn't all that clear yet but Ryo had no doubt it was the coliseum Gennai mentioned.

The place was huge, though parts of it looked collapsed. It was just like the coliseums from ancient Rome, the pits were gladiators fought. Airdramon flew down to one of the entrances; to three people who were there waiting for them, the one on the right was hovering in the air. And as they neared it became clear that one of them was human. The dragon touched down close to them, letting V-mon and Ryo get off his back. The boy looked him over, just like Ryo was doing to him. Aside from Ken this was the first time in weeks that he had seen a fellow human. He had wild brown hair, really wild brown hair. Also of note were the goggles he wore. 

Next to him stood a small orange dinosaur, which Ryo recognized as an Agumon. Floating in the air was what could only be described as a pink puffball with wings, Piccolomon. Once again Ryo was glad he had taken the time to study all Gennai had on various types of digimon. It sure came in use here already.

"Good that you're finally here, Piccolomon says you are the last to arrive," the boy with the goggles and wild hair said. 

"Really? There are more Chosen here?" Ryo asked. 

"Sure are," the boy answered with a smile. He took a few steps forward till he was right in front of Ryo. 

"Many more in fact, you'll meet them soon. I'm Yagami Taichi by the way." 

"Akiyama Ryo, nice to meet you." 

"Likewise," Taichi acknowledged, "now we can find out why we are all here. Piccolomon didn't want to tell us anything till you arrived. Some of us were getting a bit impatient." 

"Having patience can only help youppi," Piccolomon said. Ryo raised an eyebrow at the digimon's strange speech. Their welcoming party turned back to the coliseum entrance, beckoning for them to follow. 

"I'll wait around here for you," Airdramon stated, flapping his wings to take off again.

"Thank you Airdramon," Ryo acknowledged as he watched the dragon fly to the walls to perch himself on top of the coliseum. Ryo and V-mon then followed Piccolomon inside along with Taichi and Agumon. 

"You say stuff like that every time we see you," Taichi said exasperated to Piccolomon.

"But it is trueppi," Piccolomon answered. They walked through a dimly lit hallway, only a couple meters in width but a great many more in height. Stone pillars at the walls held the ceiling up, one that couldn't be seen with the current lighting.  

"But sometimes it pays off to skip the patience part and jump right into the action," V-mon remarked, "it worked wonders for us." 

"It's the same for us," Agumon said, making Piccolomon sigh. Why was it always he who had to deal with, and train, the worst the thick-headed daredevils had to offer? He remembered clearly the trouble training Taichi had caused, a fight between two tyrannical beasts that almost destroyed his home. Then he helped them against Piemon, dying in the process, which wasn't exactly the smartest thing he had ever done. Sure it was necessary for the children to escape, but it wasn't pleasant. Luckily he had been reborn rather quickly and with a rigorous training got back to the level he was at now. Never let it be said that Piccolomon was a lazy mon. 

"Now that everyone is hereppi," Piccolomon addressed the assembled group of children and digimon, "I will inform you of what this is all about. In the digital world there are four truly powerful beings, our gods if you will. Three of them have unfortunately, and for an unknown reason, turned evil and were plotting to take over the digital worldppi. They plotted on their own, but when they realized that the fourth Sovereign, Qinglongmon, remained good they started to work together against himppi."

"So we are here to stop the three Sovereigns?" a boy with red hair asked. 

"Yes and no Koushiro," Piccolomon said. Ryo's eyes widened slightly upon hearing that name and he looked over carefully to the boy. If he remembered what Gennai said correctly a long time ago than this was the very same kid whom he talked to on a message board about digimon before he got here.

"The purpose of you all being here is to decide which one of you will partner with Qinglongmon to bring the others back to the side of good or defeat themppi. You are here to participate in a tournament to decide the strongest one among youppi."

"Not up against a Digital God this time huh?" Ryo whispered to V-mon in a slightly sarcastic tone.

"I was wrong, so sue me."

There was a distinct sound or murmuring among the assembled group at this declaration. Not really knowing anybody Ryo took this as an opportunity to look over the assembled group. They all seemed to know each other as they talked and speculated freely with their neighbours. His eyes trailed every one of them, as they all seemed to be the same age he was. Except for two notable exceptions, a blond boy and a brunette girl who seemed about Ken's age. Thinking of Ken saddened him for a moment, which became apparent on his face. Suddenly all this wasn't as interesting as it was before. Ken would have loved to have seen this, with his kindness he would have fitted right in. Now Ken was alone, sick and alone and in a way so was he. This was a tight group who had been through things together, while he was alone. His eyes finished trailing the group as he came to the end of the talking bunch, but not of the assembly as a whole. 

There was another like him, someone who stood alone from the talking group, a boy with wild white hair looking solemnly ahead of him. Noticing he was being watched the boy cocked his head slightly towards Ryo. Giving him a slight grin and a wink before looking solemnly in front of him again the boy left Ryo baffled. He didn't stand as stoic as before though as the ghost of a smile still played along his lips. Startled Ryo kept looking at him till Piccolomon continued.

"The tournament has five stages, you have to finish one to move on to the next. Between stages you'll fight one of your fellow Chosen in a battle of skillppi," Piccolomon continued.

"Wait a minute, that's not fair!" A girl with long brown haired objected fervently, "We've all lost the ability to evolve our partners past adult stage, but who knows about the new guys!"

"I understand your concern, but you don't have to worryppi. Because you'll be pairing up with the Sovereign if you win it doesn't really matter to what level you can bring your digimon. It's a battle of strategy, not brute forceppi, "Piccolomon explained, "that's why your digimon will fight at the highest level they have in common. Which will mostly be adultppi."

The brown haired girl smiled and nodded, Ryo could only assume she saw some tactical benefit in this as she looked very pleased with herself.  

"This tournament will be held over the course of a couple of days, during which you will have sleeping accommodations on the premises. Taichi, can I trust you will show Ryo where he'll be stayingppi?" Piccolomon asked.

"Sure thing," Taichi answered.

"Well, that's about it, if you have any questions you can always find me somewhere around hereppi. The first stage will start first thing tomorrow." 

After Piccolomon had flown off Ryo and V-mon were left alone with the other Chosen and digimon. Taichi, who had stood close to him when they were being briefed now faced the other children on Ryo's behalf. 

"Okay everybody, this is Akiyama Ryo and his digimon V-mon," Taichi said, making Ryo's introduction. The other kids gathered around them and Taichi took it upon himself to make the necessary introductions. 

"This is Yamato," Taichi gestured to a blond boy their age, "he doesn't talk much and when he does it's usually not friendly."

"Shut up Taichi," Yamato replied with a slight smirk at Taichi's description of him. Ryo saw he held a hand on the younger boy's shoulder, a painful reminder of him and Ken. 

"Hi, I'm Takeru," the younger blond boy said cheerfully, blissfully unaware of what their posture meant to him, "I'm Yamato's brother."

Close to them stood their respective digimon partners, Gabumon and Patamon respectively, who also got a quick introduction. And so Ryo was introduced to the Odaiba Chosen and their partners. A boy with blue hair and glasses, the always calm and reliable Jyou and Gomamon. A redhead with somewhat unkempt hair and a palm laptop, the knowledgeable Koushiro whom he already knew somewhat from the net filled out the rest of the boys Taichi was acquainted to. Koushiro's partner was the ladybug digimon Tentomon.

Next were the three girls of the group, Sora, a girl with short rust colour hair and her partner Piyomon, a pink bird. Mimi, the girl who had protested about unfairness to Piccolomon, looked at him appraisingly. At her side stood her partner Palmon. 

"And this is Hikari," Taichi finished when he came to the young girl with short brown hair, "my sister. Tailmon is her digimon."

That left one more person Ryo didn't know, but none of the other Chosen could really introduce him. To them he, like Ryo, was a stranger. Some of them, mostly Yamato, eyed him wearily but most regarded him like any other. He was a teenaged boy, the same age as Ryo, with wild white hair and cold blue eyes. He wore a short sleeveless shirt with a black short sleeved shirt underneath. On each sleeve was a peace shaped design. His pants were long, baggy and white, the same colour as his shoes. Two stylized red stripes ran down his shirt, pants and shoes. Around his arms he had wrapped bandages, like a martial arts fighter. A black digivice, a D3 like Ryo's, was clipped to his waist. Lastly he had a long light blue-green scarf tied around his neck, which occasionally flapped around in the wind. Ryo could imagine them looking like a bug's wings in the gloom. The whole outfit seemed almost like a uniform of sorts. He easily stepped past all the other Chosen who had gathered in front of Ryo, only to stop when he was right in front of him. 

He had a slight smile on his face and his cold eyes seemed to soften somewhat. He looked like someone who had been through some bad experiences. 

"I'm Saiba Neo, nice to meet you Ryo," he said suavely, grabbing the other boy's hand in a hearty shake, "I've heard some interesting things about you." 

"You have?" Ryo asked dumbfounded, Neo was somehow catching him completely off guard.

"Ryo can tell us all about it later," Taichi interjected, "after I've shown him to his room."

He turned to leave and the others made way for him. Ryo started to turn too, away from Neo, when the white haired kid also took a step towards Taichi. 

"I'll accompany you, since my room is that way too."

"Folder is quite an interesting place, dangerous too, " Neo said, "Places such as the Spirit Land and Nightmare Forest are foreboding places that you shouldn't take lightly, however there are many beautiful and tranquil places as well, like Hospi Town and Saver's Bay. You really should see it sometimes; I'll give you a guided tour." 

"I might like that," Ryo said slowly, but it was more than 'might like' already. Neo's words and descriptions had drawn him in and after what he had been through so far he was desperate to find peaceful places in the Digital World, unlike the pits of darkness he had encountered so far. Sure there were good places and digimon, but most of that was overshadowed by not so pure intentions. _Ken would have loved to have seen this Folder_, he thought.  

Like the rest of the coliseum the hallway they were in was old, the walls were filled with cracks in numerous places, but Ryo was hardly paying attention to his surroundings. 

"We're here," Taichi said, stopping at a door on their right side. The living quarters were in hidden in the deeper parts of the coliseum, under the stands. Despite appearances there was a lot of room in the structure aside from the arena floor and seating for spectators. 

"My room's the one on the right; Neo's is to the left. The others are on different floors," Taichi explained.

"Take a moment to relax and have a bite to eat," Neo continued, "I took the liberty to prepare a little something for you two, as you would probably be tired after your long trip here."

"Ah, thank you," Ryo said to Neo's retreating form. 

"Don't mention it," the white haired boy called back.

The room was sparsely decorated, but that was to be expected. Actually it reminded him an awful lot about his room in Gennai's house. It was bigger and there were two beds, one for him and one for V-mon, but nothing else was truly different. The desk he had in Gennai's house was a table with a couple of chairs here and there were bigger closets. 

"You okay here?" Taichi asked from the door opening. 

"I'm good," Ryo answered.

"Then have a good meal," the goggle boy turned to leave.

"Did he, did he really make this?" Ryo gestured to the food. Taichi's face clouded for a moment.

"He did," there was something in Taichi's voice, but Ryo couldn't make it out.

Closing the door behind him Taichi left Ryo and V-mon alone in their new accommodations.

It didn't take V-mon long to jump on one of the chairs at the table, licking his lips as he looked over the food assembled there. Mostly different kind of sandwiches and some soup it looked like a king's meal after their long day of travelling. 

"Quite nice of the kid to prepare this for us," V-mon stated, taking a bite from one of the sandwiches, "people he doesn't even know."

Ryo nodded and took a seat himself. It was indeed very kind of Neo to just prepare this for them, a kindness Ryo wasn't really accustomed to. _I'll have to thank him some more for this later_, he thought. 

Some time later, Ryo guessed it to be about eight o'clock or something; both he and V-mon were resting on their respective beds. On the table remained only empty plates, all the food had been eaten by them soon after they had entered the room. 

"Say V-mon," Ryo said thoughtfully," what do you think the test is going to be tomorrow?"

"With Piccolomon who can say," V-mon answered, "last time I was here I had to clean the entire coliseum, said it was an important exercise. I've heard of him pulling the same stunt with other trainees of his as well. Wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if this so-called training is actually a cheap way for the lazy bum to get his place cleaned." 

It was then that V-mon noticed Ryo was making some peculiar noises, which sounded surprisingly like barely contained snickers. 

"What?" He questioned harshly.

"Nothing," Ryo said, still chortling,"it's just that I can't picture you going along with that." 

"Just shut up, I was younger then."

"You don't sound like the naïve kind, not even in your youth," Ryo remarked. 

"Fine! I needed training, was out of money and needed a place to stay. I was desperate, happy now!" 

"Very," Ryo confirmed smugly. 

A sudden knock at the door prevented V-mon from making any comments.

"Who is it?" Ryo called out.

"Uhm, it's Hikari," a soft girl voice sounded from the other end of the door, "can I come in?"

"Sure, go ahead," V-mon answered instead of Ryo. Both of them sat up on their beds watching the door slowly open, allowing the young brunette entrance into their room. She went to stand in front of them a bit timidly, unsure of how to proceed. Her hands were clasped behind her back. 

"You're Taichi's little sister right?" Ryo asked, a slight smile was on his face, "so what can we do for you this evening?"

"Taichi was wondering if you perhaps wanted to talk to him," Hikari said, then changed her inflection to mirror her brother's voice, "'Chosen to Chosen'." 

Ryo thought about it for a second and figured that he might as well. He wasn't ready to turn in for the night and a conversation with a fellow Chosen might just be interesting. And besides, Taichi seemed like a pretty okay guy. V-mon looked pensive too, but for slightly different reasons.

"Your digimon was that Tailmon, wasn't it?" He asked.

"Yes she is, she's really the best."

"I bet she is," V-mon said a bit absentmindedly, something that wasn't lost on Ryo.

"V-mon, you're drooling," he pointed out. 

"Huh? What?" V-mon mumbled, anxiously wiping his face till he realized there was nothing there. Of course by that time Ryo was already laughing out loud. The blue lizard, now thoroughly miffed, gave him an annoyed look. 

"Very funny, ha, ha," he said dryly.

"You two are really good friends," Hikari giggled. Ryo stopped laughing to look at V-mon while the blue child level digimon returned the look. 

"Yeah we are," Ryo finally said, looking at the girl again, "just like you are with your digimon I suppose."

Hikari nodded, standing more at ease now than before. Stretching himself leisurely Ryo stood up from the bed. 

"Our partners are a part of us," Hikari said softly, closing her eyes as one of her hands went to her heart.  

"So, it's probably only natural," she continued with her eyes open, looking very cheerful.

"Well, that may be for you, but it doesn't go for us," Ryo reasoned.

"Why not?" Hikari asked.

"V-mon is not my original partner," Ryo answered, "Since the identity of my real partner is unknown we've been working together."

"We're a pretty good team," V-mon added. 

"Damn straight," Ryo concurred, then blanched as he realized what he said.

"Don't worry, it's nothing Taichi hasn't said," Hikari reassured him, "just don't mention it to him."

Closing the door behind him Ryo once again turned to the girl standing with him in the hallway outside of his bedchamber. The corridor was only sparsely lighted, leaving most of it in darkness. 

"So where can I find Taichi? In his room perhaps?" 

"No," she shook her head twice, "he went to the common room a few floors down to have a bite to eat and have some space."

"Wasn't the kitchen that way?" V-mon pointed to the darkness to his left. 

"That's only one kitchen, a small one. Every floor has one, but the largest is on the lowest floor. Just go out that way and you'll find the stairs down."

"You're not coming?" Ryo wondered. Hikari shook her head again, "well then, maybe I'll see you later."

"Probably," Hikari agreed.

The common room was easily found after Hikari's directions. A stairwell, lit more than the passage they'd been through, let them down to the very first floor where there was full lighting.

"Didn't I tell you? The cheap bastard," V-mon muttered.

"Now, now, he's probably thinking about the environment," Ryo suggested.

"What environment, this is the _digital_ world. Only thing he can think about is the energy bill."

"You really don't like him, do you?" 

"Not really," V-mon grumbled. 

_"There, all done, "a much younger V-mon cheered.__ The entire coliseum had been cleaned and in record time too. _

_"Well doneppi," Piccolomon said, tracing a stone pillar with his index finger. _

_"So now we can actually start training right?" _

_"Yes, of course. Now you can start cleaning the lavatories." _

"Training, my ass," V-mon muttered.

"Hey, look who's come to join us!" Taichi called out to them. Sitting on one of the large couches that graced the room where Taichi and Koushiro. Their digimon, and some of the others, were at another end of the room, apparently playing pool. The room, the biggest one they had seen so far, held a multitude of furniture and recreational applications, like a pool table.

"Looks like fun," V-mon said, noticing the game of pool, "I'm gonna go over there."

"Sure, have fun."

Wasting little time Ryo joined the other boys while V-mon went to the game. He popped down on a comfy chair across the couch of Koushiro and Taichi. 

The two other kids were quite interested in Ryo; being the second Chosen they had met who wasn't part of their original group. Likewise Ryo was eager to learn more of his colleagues. This was looking out to be a story-swapping night.

There was a soft knock on the door before it opened and Hikari joined the two older girls, Sora and Mimi, in the bedroom. They had decided to get together in Mimi's room for one last night of relaxing before the Tournament would start. For some reason the room looked remarkably pink.

"So Hikari, what was taking you so long?" Mimi asked, sitting cross-legged on her bed, which quite frankly was fit for a queen. The young brunette couldn't help but compare it with the rather simple arrangements that her brother and Ryo had. Probably went the same for all the boys on the lower floors. They, the girls, had gotten the top floor and were a lot better off with their rooms. Though simpler than this room Hikari had by far a more luxurious place to sleep than her brother did.

"I went to see Ryo," answered Hikari, getting some oh's and ah's from Mimi.

"What?"

"It's so cute to see little Hikari-chan having a little crush," Mimi grinned, for some reason looking a bit sinister, "and he's older than you too. What would Taichi say about that?"

Hikari sputtered, blushing furiously. She couldn't help herself, even though what Mimi was saying wasn't true. If only Mimi would stop looking like she just solved the big puzzle.

"Mimi!" Sora admonished, looking from the girl that looked like a cat that was toying with its prey to the girl that distinctly looked like a tomato.

"Sorry," the girl giggled, "I just couldn't resist."  

"For your information," Hikari spoke up, "Taichi asked me to go to him and give him a message." 

Mimi nodded like she understood and Hikari relaxed somewhat.

"Should I tell Taichi what his little sister is doing when he sends her for messages?" 

The blush that had been slowly fading away immediately reared its ugly head again after that comment.

"Mimi!" Sora admonished her friend yet again, this time a bit louder.

"Sorry, but you've got to admit he's cute, so is the other guy," Mimi stated. Sora nodded at that and, though a bit hesitantly, so did Hikari.

"So we're all in agreement then?" Mimi asked.

"Well," Hikari hesitated," there is something about Neo that feels, I don't know, strange somehow."

Quickly she whipped her head towards Mimi, pinning her with a slight glare, "No, it's not a crush!"

Mimi raised her arms beside her head in a defensive posture. 

"What do mean Hikari?" Sora asked, "he does seem a bit closed off and cold, but then so did Yamato for a while. He did seem really nice to Ryo though, even made him dinner if I'm to believe the rumours."

"Well there were a lot of empty dinner plates on the table when I was in his room," Hikari pondered.

"Oh, that's so cute, though personally I hope Ryo doesn't swing that way," Mimi said, drawing blank stares from the other two girls.

"You know Mimi, I didn't want to say anything but," Sora proceed slowly," you're really getting weird lately."

Mimi just shrugged. 

"Still," Hikari ventured slowly, "something feels wrong. It's probably nothing, though."

"Maybe it's just because he's new and from a continent we've never been to before. It would be interesting to visit Folder I think."

"That could be it, but Ryo's also new and she doesn't feel like that towards him, do you Hikari? Quite the opposite in fact right?" Mimi winked.

"That's getting old. And why are you going on about this?" Sora commented.

"Maybe you have a crush on Ryo?" Hikari asked slyly. Time to turn this joking around. A slight blush on Mimi's now averted face was what answered them, that and a muttered 'maybe'.

 "After he send us to deletion we somehow managed to find the strength in ourselves to recompile ourselves," Koushiro said. For a while now they had been talking about the adventures they had all had during their stay in the Digital World. At first it had been Ryo relaying his story, though he did omit a few parts that weren't exactly morally correct. Tama City had been left out completely, not wanting to go into the fact that he was a wanted thief there and probably branded as much more if he guessed enough of Devitamamon's mindset.

Most of what he told was just the good stuff and the fighting, but he couldn't ignore what happened to Ken at the end of the fight. It was a mood killer, he didn't really want to talk about it and they didn't really want to hear. Who would, hearing of one of them fall like that. It reminded Taichi a lot about what happened to Hikari when they were in Mugen Dramon's city and she fell ill. 

But they continued anyway, Ryo was still interested in the others' story. So they started off slowly with their first arrival on File Island and went on from there. By the time they had covered Etemon the unease they had experienced at hearing of Ken's fate had subsided. 

"Then we kicked his ass and got back to the digital world," Taichi concluded, "but we had to leave there soon because the portal was closing. Though it has been opening up every now and again."

"Like with the Diablomon incident?" Ryo wondered out loud.

"Correct," Koushiro confirmed, "after that it became increasingly clear that evil could still reach the digimon and Digital World. So Gennai called us back to use our crests in making a barrier to protect this world from evil."

"And now we can't evolve our partners past adult anymore," Taichi moped.

"And with Millenniumon showing up it proved the Digital World was only safe from the outside right? Not the inside?" Ryo mused.

"And that is why we are here again," Taichi said, looking at the clock on the wall for the first time in hours, "wow, that late already?" 

Indeed it was coming really close to midnight already and, with the day that was ahead of them they would need all the sleep they could get. 

"Better call it a day," Koushiro said.

"You coming Agumon?" Taichi called out to the pool table. After all this time they were still playing. 

"Not yet, gotta finish this first!" Agumon replied.

"Alright, but don't make it to late."

"That goes for you too V-mon," Ryo supplied.

"Sure _mom_," the blue lizard grumbled.

"I'll come," Tentomon said, flying away from the pool table and to his partner Koushiro. The game had long since degraded into a, mostly friendly, rivalry between the two reptilian digimon. 

They left the two digimon behind as they went to the hallway. Both Koushiro and Taichi made to turn right, to the staircase. Ryo however was leaning to going to the left, to the large kitchen that was supposed to be there.

"I'm going to get something to drink first," Ryo explained at the questioning looks they were giving him. Wishing each other good night and good luck for what was to come tomorrow the four parted ways with Ryo going to the kitchen and Taichi, Koushiro and Tentomon going to the stairs. Waiting for a moment he simply watched them as they left, already talking amiably among themselves. He couldn't help but wonder against whom he would be fighting tomorrow and the following days. A sigh escaped his lips before he could stop himself. Things were always going like this, there was always a fight, always some task for him. And he felt guilty, guilty because he enjoyed the action and the courting with death. Not so surprising, he had lived a pretty peaceful life, spending a lot of time online. This was new and exciting, why shouldn't he enjoy it? That's what he kept telling himself.

But that was before Ken got hurt, not him but Ken. The younger boy shouldn't have been in any of those situations, he should have left him behind on File Island where he would have been safe. But having another companion was too tempting and they always got out alright. Except at that last fight. It should have been him, not Ken, it should have been him. 

That's where the guilt came into play fully, he still enjoyed the danger, still felt the thrill of staring down death. He actually looked forward to this tournament, to the action it was bound to generate. And of teaming up with a Digital God, which would be a nice change of pace considering his last, and first, assignment entailed killing a Digital God. But Ken wasn't here and wouldn't be coming here. 

With a sad expression on his face he entered the kitchen, without noticing he had even walked over there. Once inside he went straight to a fridge to get himself something cool to drink, still kind of oblivious to the world around him. As such he didn't know he was not alone in the room. The other presence watched him silently as he poured himself a glass of juice and drank it in almost one gulp.

"You're looking pretty thoughtful," the other person said gently, but still made Ryo jump in surprise. Turning to the source of the voice he found himself looking at Neo.

"Is something wrong?" Neo asked.

"No, I'm fine," Ryo replied, sounding slightly nervous.

"Really? Well that's good," Neo said, "if it's really true. If not, it may help to talk about it." 

"It's really nothing much."

"Hm," Neo nodded thoughtfully, "so now it's nothing much while before it was nothing at all. Are you sure you don't want to talk? It doesn't have to be here, we can talk on the way back to your room. I'm sure you're anxious to get to bed."

Ryo wanted to answer that everything was fine, that he was just thinking about tomorrow. Instead he answered truthfully, feeling that he could trust this boy. He started moving to the door back to the hallway along with Neo. 

"I was just thinking about Ken, a Chosen who got hurt in the final battle against Millenniumon."

"You two were close then I gather?" Neo asked.

"We were, he's almost like a little brother to me," Ryo could hardly believe he was just telling Neo this, but he couldn't deny the fact that talking about his worries helped some.

"And you feel guilty that you are here and he is not, isn't that right?" Neo seemed to know so much, it was almost frightening. But Neo was kind throughout and that put him at ease.

"I guess, I just feel that he should have been here," said Ryo, eliciting a sigh from Neo.

"Believe me I know just how you feel, the guilt and agony over being the one left, the one who's unharmed. While the innocent suffer," Ryo looked at Neo in wonder, hearing a depth of pain in the boy's voice he had never heard before.

"It's my sister," Neo explained, part of sounded sad, another was angry, "she got hurt bad in a car accident, almost didn't make it. Even now she can't walk, probably forever. She was always so happy and caring, now she's confined to a wheelchair because of some idiot."

"I'm sorry," Ryo finally managed to say.

Neo looked at him with a wry smile, "Now look what I've done. I was trying to make you feel better but instead poured my problems onto you."

"No, it's okay," Ryo tried to say reassuringly. They walked on in silence for a little while, coming closer to their rooms as they ascended the stairs.

"You shouldn't feel bad about what happened, it wasn't your fault," Neo said soothingly, "you two did what you have to do. If anything, it's this world's fault for bringing someone as young as Ken here, young people such as us. But then, that isn't correct either, this world is innocent too. Perhaps it's the digital Gods' fault for bringing us here. If you win, you can ask them about it." 

They had reached their floor now, which was still quite dark, as it had been before.

"The digimon need our help after all, that's why we are here," Ryo said, wondering now why all the Chosen had been children. Easier to mould and put up to the task he supposed. The door to his room was now to his right, Neo's only a few meters away. They stopped in front of it. 

"Neo," Ryo continued, realizing this was the first time he used the other boy's name, "who is your digimon, I haven't seen him yet have I?"

"No you haven't," Neo answered, "he's pretty shy and fussy about meeting new people. You wouldn't believe the problems I've had with him on Folder. I'll ask him about meeting with you though."

"If it's not to much trouble."

"It's not, I've been trying to get him to loosen up for a while now. Now I think it's time to say goodnight. I'm sure it's going to be an exciting day tomorrow."

"You're right, goodnight Neo," Ryo said.

"Good night, Ryo. Let's talk again tomorrow."

"Sure."

With a slight creak the door closed behind him, out of one darkness and into the next. He was not alone in the small room as he knew it would be. Calmly he went over to a chair and popped down.

"Master," the other presence greeted him reverently. A dark glow appeared around his hand, though in the darkness of the chamber it couldn't be seen by most eyes. Quickly it solidified into an egg, a completely black egg. Idly he tossed it around in his hands, remembering all the things he had done with it and what he would still do with it.

"Renamon," the Master acknowledged. The tall fox waited calmly for what his lord was going to tell him, though by the evil undertone in his voice he could already deduce the answer.

"He's finally here, now the fun can truly begin. When we're done with him he would truly wish he had lost to Millenniumon in that blasted desert. How are our incursions going into the tests anyway?"

"Close, but not quite there yet. I think it's going to be a few days before we can put him through one of our own."

"Good, that will suffice. And what's the status of the crystal in the catacombs?"

"I could feel an increase in power and the form inside is growing rapidly, I estimate it will be full grown in a matter of days."

"At the end of the tournament, excellent," The Master chuckled, "soon Akiyama, very soon you'll have your hands full again. And this time you will not be able to win."

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the delay, but by now you should all be used to it. Lost my entire vacation to a nasty project for my University too. 

Some questions from my reviewers:

_Who is the Master? _The all important question which will become clear very soon. Maybe it already has, who knows? Well, I do, but that's not the point. I will say this though, he's not an original character, nor is he from any of the seasons that are not related to the Adventures dimension.

_Original __Chosen__ number 6?_ He's not the Master, that much I can tell you outright. Who is he then? Well most of the answer to that has already been given in the story. 

First, take into account what the Master said about the end of the first battle against Apocalymon. The angel Lucemon absorbed part of that data, turning into Daemon. If he had gotten everything he would have been even more powerful and changed into a different kind of Daemon, one without the robes and a more beastlike form. See the first picture on this site: 

Instead the digimon of the sixth child, who was jealous because he was the one who was denied his partner, also absorbed a lot of data. The Master said that this event took place about ten years ago from the time in this story, thus placing it around 1990. At that time the sixth child was only two to three years old, which was far too young. 

So both Daemon and the sixth child took Apocalymon's data and Daemon wants that remaining piece so he can be complete. 

Now go back a few chapters, to the part where I first used Daemon. He had a deal with the Master to disrupt the flow of time in exchange for knowledge of the sixth digimon's whereabouts. Daemon was angry because the Master had already been working for his promised target, Chimeramon/Millenniumon. So Millenniumon was the sixth digimon.

Who is the sixth child? He's the partner of Millenniumon. And by now I think we all know who that is right? If you don't, just wait a few more chapters.

_Omni-season crossovers_. Don't worry about that one, that's not going to happen. No ten warriors, no D-Reaper, no X-Antibodies. The Adventure's dimension is quite a different one from the Tamers, Frontier or Chronicle dimensions and I won't cross them meaninglessly. Though they all have a common ground in ENIAC, but that's getting ahead of me in plot.

The reason I took Lucemon was that I needed an angel in a time where the digimon were still all at child level at most. Lucemon was there, so I didn't need to invent one of my own. Why an angel? Because of the whole good-evil, angel-devil thing.

_Strange woman?_ Yes, she's the one who spoke to Hikari and took control of her to explain to the other Chosen what was going on. She belonged to the same order as Gennai, but like the others didn't survive. Only as a spirit of light does she still exist.

Now I've got a little question for you all. This is the first chapter that I used the other Chosen and I was wondering what you thought of their characterization. Now if you think Neo's character was a bit off in comparison to what he's like in V-Tamer, there's a reason for that. But I really want to know what you think of the others. Don't be afraid to tell me, I want to know if you think something is wrong so I can fix it.

**Translation: Japanese to English**

Piccolomon = Pixiemon

Kido Jyou = Joe Kido

Ishida Yamato = Yamato "Matt" Ishida

Takaishi Takeru = Takeru "TK" Takaishi

Yagami Taichi = Taichi "Tai" Kamiya

Yagami Hikari = Hikari "Kari" Kamiya

Tachikawa Mimi = Mimi Tachikawa

Takenouchi Sora = Sora Takenouchi

Izumi Koushiro = Koushiro "Izzi" Izumi

Saiba Neo = Neo Saiba

Saiba Rei = Rei Saiba (though I haven't really mentioned her name yet)

Piemon = Piedmon

Next Chapter:  
Ryo has met the other Chosen and found a fast friend in Neo, a Chosen from the Folder Continent. Now the first test looms ahead of him, but he doesn't have to go at it alone. Can he and those that follow him take the heat of a not so dormant volcano?


	22. Out of the frying pan

**Chapter 21: Trial by Fire part 1**

**Out of the frying pan…**

Ryo's log: August 2000, Piccolomon's coliseum, Digiworld.

Yesterday Airdramon brought V-mon and me to a coliseum in the desert. According to Gennai it was very important that we went there, even though it meant leaving Ken behind. It took us practically all day to get there, but we made it without any problem.

We met some of the other Chosen who had gone before us there, a really nice bunch though I only really got to speak to some of them. One of them, a boy named Neo, had even prepared dinner for us.

Even more of a surprise than meeting other Chosen was the reason we were all here. Piccolomon was holding a tournament to see who would partner up with a Sovereign, a digital God, to fight his brethren who had turned bad. Seems like an exciting time to be here.

End log.

* * *

"Where am I now?" Ryo wondered. As far as he could tell he was in a sealed chamber of old grey stones. His feet were invisible to him by a thin layer of fog. It had to be a dream, but it was so realistic. He knew he should be lying in his bed at the coliseum right now. He looked around trying to find anything that could be of help to him. However there was nothing else in the room, except for a sarcophagus in the middle, but he didn't give it much thought. Instead he wanted to find a way out, but the room seemed to be hermetically sealed.

"That should be obvious," a strikingly familiar voice answered him. Slowly he turned around to see another boy sitting on the sarcophagus in the centre of the small room, only a few feet away from him. The clothes were nothing like his own, they were all black, from the boots, the pants to the shirt that he wore. Only the face was the same, his face.

"You," Ryo spat through gritted teeth. The whole nightmare mess started after that first dream with him.

"Ah, you remember me, how sweet," the other Ryo said in a sugary tone. The duplicate had a faint smile plastered on his face while his eyes looked intently at Ryo, seemingly staring right in his soul. It made Ryo a bit uncomfortable, especially in light of the other nightmares he had. One thing was different though, this time he was aware that he was dreaming. He never had been before.

"What do you want?" Ryo demanded rather harshly, already tired of this charade.

"I see you're still a bit pissed about the last time we met, what a pity," other Ryo continued as if he hadn't heard the question. "I thought you might have moved past that little stabbing in the heart incident. Or was it because I did it in the form of Ken, your delicious little partner?"

"Leave Ken out of this," Ryo said, "and as a matter of fact, leave my dream as well."

"I can't do that Ryo, you see, this is not your dream."

"What?"

"This is our dream, yours and mine," the dark clad boy explained, shaking his head slightly, "But I see you don't believe me."

"Two people can't share a dream, not even in this place," Ryo stated.

"You seem so sure of that, such determination," the other boy's look was one of worship, but changed to one of contempt almost immediately, "but you still think in such simple terms, Soldier boy. Always doing and believing what you are told, never beyond that."

"We are not two different people Ryo," the other's piercing gaze held Ryo fast in his place, "I am you and you are me. I will never leave you and, deep down, you don't want me to go either."

"The hell I don't. Why do you do this and what do you mean?!"

"I wish I could explain it to you, really, but unfortunately we are out of time. Morning approaches already, in fact you've overslept a bit."

The dark Ryo jumped of the large stone coffin and moved to the side, keeping a close eye on his counterpart the whole time.

"I'll see you again real soon, but in the meantime, good luck on your test today."

"Wait," Ryo said, freed from whatever spell his clone had used to hold him in place. He took a step towards the other boy, but that was as far as he got. The whole room started shaking and breaking up, the sarcophagus in the centre burst apart. A large skeletal hand lunged out of the darkness within to grab Ryo, its touch chilling him to the bone. Ryo struggled against its grip as he was lifted of the ground. He could feel his body temperature dropping several degrees per second. His struggling ceased as he could no longer feel his body. Sweet and cold oblivion started to overtake him. Amidst it all there was one voice he could still here clearly, even as the rest of the world faded away into darkness.

"See you soon, my love."

* * *

With a start Ryo woke up, still safely in his bed. He had almost forgotten about it when he was freezing to death, that it was only a dream. Anxious eyes searched the room around him, but nothing else was there except for V-mon. The blue lizard was sprawled out on his bed, still sound asleep. Good thing too, he really didn't want to explain his nightmares to his partner.

He shivered, noticing for the first time since he had abruptly woken up from his nightmare how cold he was. His body was as cold as ice even though the room around him was of normal room temperature. He instinctively hugged himself to regain some body heat and to keep himself from screaming out. Slowly he tried to put things together. The dream had somehow affected him in the waking world, something that should be impossible.

_I was so close to freezing to death in there, if I hadn't woken up would I have truly died?_ His thoughts raced, but came to an abrupt stop at a knocking sound at his door.

"Yes?" Ryo called out. In the bed beside him V-mon grumbled and rolled over, still asleep.

"It's time to wake up, your test is going to start soon," a male voice sounded from the other side. It took a moment for him to connect the voice to Neo.

"Oh right, I'll be out in just a moment," said Ryo, trying very hard not to show his distress through his voice. He thought he was succeeding nicely.   
"I'll wait for you," Neo replied, "We can have a quick breakfast together."

"Sure," Ryo replied, getting out of his bed. With a step he was over at V-mon's bed, looking down on the blue lizard that was sleeping soundly on his stomach. His partner was still sleeping soundly and by the looks of it, rather peacefully. _Idiot_, he mentally chastised himself, _it was only a dream. Only a damn dream, pull yourself together. _

"Hey sleepyhead, wake up," Ryo said, making V-mon bury his head further in his pillow. It was cold at night in the desert, he knew that from the last time he was there trying to get an unconscious Ken safely to Gennai and before Airdramon found them. That was why he got cold, even if the room was now of a nicer temperature and by all logic he should be warmer too. And that was why he was freezing in his dream, his subconscious mind was simply reacting to his surroundings. Just a nasty coincidence that was all.

"Not yet," V-mon mumbled. Ryo grinned; he had been overreacting to a simple anxiety dream, which was kind of unlike him.

"You're usually up before me, way before me. How late did you make it last night?" He questioned his partner.

"Wasn't that late," V-mon muttered, still half asleep. A smirk slowly crept up Ryo's face.

"Really? Then you won't mind this, would you?" Before the sleepy digimon could react Ryo had pulled the covers away from him, dropping the digimon on the floor in the process.

"Ow, what was that for?" V-mon complained, now fully awake.

"Payback for all the times you woke me up rudely," Ryo said, turning away from the two beds. His clothes were waiting for him on one of the chairs in their little room. It was quite surprising to find some pyjamas here, but useful since the nights could get rather cold in the desert. They didn't seem to help enough though.

"Don't you know it's a bad thing to mess with a Victory Dragon?" V-mon stated.

"But right now you're nothing more than an overgrown lizard, aren't you?"

* * *

After a lot more of petty bickering with V-mon, Ryo finally managed to get dressed and leave their room, the small dragon in tow.

"Good morning," Neo greeted them amiably. Ryo responded, but V-mon just let out a grumble.

Neo preceded them to the same room Hikari had led them to the day before. It seemed almost the same, though there was an assortment of cans and empty paper raps in various locations. They hadn't been here when he had left last night and Ryo seriously doubted anyone would want to begin a day with candy.

"Had fun last night?" He asked V-mon, making it a point to look at every single piece of rubbish he could find.

"Yeah," the digimon answered.

"You know Piccolomon won't like it?"

"Yeah," V-mon answered grinning. That line of reasoning had obviously not been overlooked by the blue lizard.

"From what I heard from Agumon, that was exactly the idea wasn't it?" Taichi said, coming in the room behind them, with mild disdain.

"Kind of," V-mon shrugged, "where is the dino anyway?"

Now it was Taichi's time to grin, "With Piccolomon, trying to explain what has happened here. The puffball wasn't happy."

"Everyone has tests to do in this little tournament of his so there is no one to clean up the mess but him? No, I suppose he wouldn't be," V-mon looked positively gleeful.

"You're a nasty piece of work you know that?" Neo said.

"It's nothing he doesn't deserve," V-mon answered nonchalantly.

"You really don't like him do you?" Taichi said, then turned their attention to a different matter, "so, have any of you eaten yet?"

"Not yet," Ryo answered him.

"Then follow me."

With Taichi they went to the kitchen to make themselves some breakfast. Nothing special, most of it just haphazardly put together from whatever edible piece they could get there hands on. According to the goggle-boy most of the others had already started while one or two were still unaccounted for. Talk quickly turned to the first test, and what it would entail. Having nothing to go on the speculated on it a bit, much like they briefly had the night before in the company of Koushiro.

* * *

When all was said and done, in other words when V-mon finally stopped eating, Taichi let them to where the test would begin. Already he had sent of most of the others, including his sister. It was obvious he didn't like it that she was off somewhere alone, though she and Tailmon could take care of themselves. Ryo knew how he felt; it was the same between him and Ken.

To save time they crossed the arena floor to get to the other side of the coliseum. The sky above them was a clear blue and the temperature was already rising. Wherever the test was going to be held, it wasn't here. Not yet anyway, they would fight one of the other Chosen here later on the day. For the first test they had to go somewhere else entirely.

Taichi told them there was a door that would take them to whatever place they needed to be.

"So I just go through that door and that's it?" Ryo asked in disbelief.

Taichi nodded, "It's as simple as that, you are immediately brought to your testing ground."

"Finish the task and you'll be able to return," Neo supplied.

"Convenient," Ryo said, his voice a tad miffed, "wish we could have used such a door when we were after Mille, could have saved us weeks."

"Apparently they don't work that way," Taichi said, "Piccolomon said they only work for 'training' purposes. If used for anything else it is just a door to a storage chamber, or something like that."

V-mon huffed, "So they are useless."

A small opening on the other side of the arena took them to a sparsely lit room with only a flight of stairs down.

"The door is down here, on one of the first levels of the catacombs. Apparently this place goes quite deep," Neo explained. One floor down they came into a hallway, small pillars at the sides with torches between them. Ahead of them was the muffled sound of several voices, which had a rather familiar ring to them for both Ryo and V-mon. Their destination was now right in front of them.

At the door, which was as nondescript as he had ever seen, Ryo was greeted with a rather unexpected sight. Several people he had met over the past month were there, waiting for him. There was the group of three digimon who had caused them some trouble in their early days, but eventually led to a shaky alliance. Turuiemon, Thundermon and Tsukaimon looked none the worse for wear.

From the now-leveled Tama City came a mage of considerable power who had helped Ryo escape from the guards after his semi-successful burglary. Sorcerymon stood close to another digimon from Tama City; one Ryo did not know yet, Bearmon.

"What are you guys doing here?" Ryo asked after overcoming the initial shock.

"Long story," Turuiemon started, "a lot has been going on since last we met."

"Suffice it to say we were looking for someone when we heard you were in the area and decided to help out," Sorcerymon said.

"Help me? Is that even allowed," Ryo asked, turning to Neo and Taichi who were standing behind him.

"I don't see why not," Taichi shrugged, "this is supposed to be a test of strategy, leadership and stuff like that, not about the strength of your digimon. If you win you won't team up with your partner anyway. So sure, they can go along as long as you still fight alone with your partner in the battles after the test."

"I'd even go along with you, but we are supposed to be rivals in this endeavor," Neo said.

"Well I'll gladly accept all the help I can get," Ryo said gratefully.

"Though we won't really need it with me around," V-mon boasted, but was pointedly ignored by the others.

"I understand you probably want to catch up first," Taichi spoke up, "but unfortunately there's a time limit. You have to go now."

"Fine, let's do this thing," Turuiemon said, making a move for the door. Being the first one there he opened it to see a white fog in the doorway.

"Just go through it and you'll arrive where you need to be," Neo said, "good luck."

* * *

The other side of the doorway was a world of white fog; none of those who ventured into it could see more than a few centimeters ahead of them. Thus it came as a surprise when without warning the fog ended.

They had appeared at the center of what could only be described as a refugee camp at the foot of a large, seemingly dormant, volcano. Weak looking tents or holes dug in the ground housed a lot of fire digimon, all dirty, all despairing. It was clear even with one look, something had happened to these creatures.

For the most part the digimon were all at child-stage, like the Candmon. Or even younger than that, such as Petit Meramon, the small digimon that looked like a flying flame, or Mokumon, looking like a puff of smoke.

The few adult digimon were all Meramon, but they seemed especially beaten up and barely even conscious. The ones that were conscious looked at the new arrivals with suspicion and anger.

"We need to find someone who knows what is going on," Sorcerymon said, "getting through this is the only way to get back now that the way leading here is closed."

Behind them, where they had come from, was no fog to be seen nor was there a doorway of any kind like in the coliseum.

"Nowhere to go now but up," V-mon said, gesturing to the mountain and the path leading up to it. The others followed his example and observed the mountain. Chances were pretty big that they'd have to go up there.

_It's never easy_, Ryo thought.

"Halt," an authoritative voice called out from behind them. While they had been momentarily distracted by the mountain, a group of angry-looking Candmon led by a Meramon had assembled behind them.

"You have some nerve coming down here, haven't you done enough! Well, this time we're not going to stand for it!"

"What are you talking about?" Ryo asked, standing in front of his own group of digimon. These digimon had suffered some kind of defeat and were anxious to take their frustrations out on somebody. Unfortunately that somebody appeared to be them; behind him Ryo could feel the others tensing up at the sight of an unavoidable struggle.

"Stand back Ryo, we'll take care of this," V-mon whispered loud enough for Ryo to hear. Tensions started to rise between the two groups squaring off.

"Please stop this at once," an elderly Candmon called out to the two groups from a tent to the side. Using a cane he slowly hobbled in between Ryo's group and the Meramon's.

"Sir, what are you doing?" Meramon asked, his voice now toned down.

"These people are not our enemies Meramon," the Elder said slowly and deliberately, "if they were we wouldn't be standing here now. Look at them, they obviously have no idea what is going on here. And really, since when did his men appear out of fog cloud. When was the last time you saw a fog cloud appear out of nowhere and this close to the volcano? We are not quite at that stage yet."

"You have a point sir," Meramon conceded.

"Now I'd like to talk to them in peace," Candmon said.

"Alright," Meramon said, "everyone get back to what you were doing, crisis contained."

Slowly and still distrusting of the strangers the group of Candmon dispersed, though Meramon stayed where he was.

"If you'd please follow me," Candmon asked.

Seeing no reason not to go with the old digimon Ryo and his small band followed, the man of fire following in their wake. The old candle digimon led them away from the center of the refugee camp, past tents and holes filled with even more trodden-on creatures. For all the beings it homed the place itself wasn't that large. Surely it would have been more comfortable to use a bit more space to prevent the inhabitants from living so cramped up. Though a larger compound would make it harder to defend there seemed no immediate reason to keep this one so small. Was the reason this camp was created that bad?

Ryo frowned, in front of them Candmon had seemed to shiver. After taking a few more steps Ryo knew why, it was cold. Inside the camp the temperature had been normal, even pleasant. But out here it was downright chilly.

"You keep so close together, because of the lack of heat?" Ryo asked. In front of him Candmon stopped and slowly turned around.

"Very observant," he said, "yes it is indeed as you say. To preserve ourselves we stay close together, our combined heat keeping the cold at bay. At least for now. If we didn't, the young flames would have extinguished already."

"The older ones, such as myself, aren't bothered by the cold that much yet, but even with this camp we can only last so long," Meramon said, coming closer to them now that they had stopped outside of the camp.

"Not bothered by it yet? It isn't cold enough by far to take one of you down," Turuiemon said, gesturing at Meramon, "it may not be comfortable but it isn't fatal."

"The temperature is dropping daily, soon it will be an icy waste," Meramon answered.

"Why don't you leave then?" Bearmon asked, the first words Ryo had heard him utter since he met the little guy.

"We can't leave here unfortunately," Meramon sighed, "We are far up north, and the lands here are far colder than this place is right now. If we go, not all of us will make it, if any, and not just because of the temperature. These lands are wild, the only one to have traveled through them and return safely would be me and I didn't go that far. The only heat and possible refuge still left here is at the volcano."

"I take it you can't go to the volcano. For the same reason the temperature is dropping?" Sorcerymon said, his eyes trained on the large mountain.

"Yes," Candmon answered this time, "it happened some time ago."

Calmly, yet with a certain urgency, Candmon began to relay to them what happened in this region leading up to their current situation.

Almost a half a year ago this piece of land had been quite different, possessing a nice warm temperature unlike the rest of the northern lands, due to the existence of this volcano. Because of this they were the only fire digimon in these lands. They lived safely in, on, and around the volcano under the leadership of Blue Meramon. The old Candmon used to be his advisor when they were still welcomed there.

So about six months ago a stranger came to them from the frozen lands beyond their little haven. Having someone come to them was a rare event, but what made this even stranger was that the digimon in question was of their type.

"He was big guy, all muscle, named Death Meramon. He came across as extremely foreboding but didn't act like that at all." Candmon explained.

The moment Death Meramon arrived he was welcomed to Blue Meramon's domain and gladly started living there. All seemed well, till about two weeks ago. He had gotten on good foot with a small group of the Meramon and they followed him everywhere he went.

"They wanted to make him leader of the guard," Meramon said, "which at the time was my position. They had requested an audience with Blue Meramon and, seeing as it involved me, I was there as well."

Blue Meramon had listened to what they wanted to say, but refused to give Death Meramon command of the guard. There was no need for it and he was satisfied with Meramon's performance.

"At first everything seemed fine, though Death Meramon was slightly disappointed. Or at least that was how he came across. The next moment things went completely nuts, some of the other Meramon attacked me and knocked me out. When I came to they were in the process of disposing me by throwing me off the volcano. Thanks to some assistance I managed to escape them, but the damage had been done."

"Somehow Death Meramon had taken over the mountain with his loyal servants. Using surprise they easily got rid of most of us before we knew what had happened. After that it was a task getting away from the volcano.

"The ones who managed to get out tried to get as far from the volcano as possible, but soon were forced back here. Somehow all the heat of the area is being drawn back into the volcano, only gradually at first but it has become much more noticeable. So now we are forced to stay here, unable to leave and unable to get closer to the volcano. "

Meramon sighed. "Almost every night we are attacked to keep us from regaining our strength enough to strike back."

"Well," Turuiemon said, "that certainly sounds interesting."

"Interesting?" Meramon hissed, surprised by the rabbit digimon's callous attitude. To the former thug it seemed only all to clear. They were being tested and what better than help these people against this Death Meramon character.

"Do you have any idea how many followers Death Meramon has on the volcano?" Sorcerymon inquired.

"About twenty of my brethren," Meramon answered, "why do you ask? You're not thinking of going there?"

Meramon finished in surprised.

"That's exactly what we're thinking," Tsukaimon replied. While he would have preferred less dangerous odds he, like his companions, had been ready for this when they had volunteered to help Ryo.

"We would be most thankful if you could help us," Candmon said, "but this isn't your problem."

"But we are here to help, so it is our problem," Bearmon voiced.

"And we know how to take care of ourselves. This guy can't be more dangerous than Chimeramon was and we survived him as well."

"Chimeramon?" Ryo exclaimed, "You've seen him?"

"Yeah, we did," Turuiemon answered slowly, his suspicions that the beast had been after Ryo all along were now almost confirmed.

"We'll talk about that later," V-mon interjected, "let's handle this first."

"They won't be expecting us to attack them and if there are only twenty than we can probably take most of them by surprise. Before they know we're there we can take out at least half of them," Ryo said optimistically to Meramon and Candmon, trying to get them to see things their way.

"It is still very dangerous," Candmon said.

"That has never stopped me before," said Ryo.

"Nor us," Turuiemon said quickly.

"We will help you, but there are a few things that we need," Ryo continued.

"And what would those be?" Candmon asked.

* * *

They stayed right there discussing what needed to be said and done. No one bothered them, though at times a face would appear at the edge of the camp, wearily looking at the meeting between these strangers and their leaders. Most couldn't be bothered to do even that, few others came out of curiosity. Those that did were mostly suspicious of the newcomers and worried for their own.

This mattered little to the group assembled outside of the camp. At first there was skepticism and hesitance on the part of Meramon and Candmon, but seeing they could not persuade their visitors to do otherwise they conceded their point.

The first thing they addressed was basic geometry, knowing the layout of the volcano was most important. The volcano, as Ryo was soon to learn, was unlike any of its namesakes on Earth. Till about halfway up there was nothing but rock and one path leading upward. Scaling the mountain anywhere else was virtually impossible, certainly for a human like Ryo without proper gear. So that meant they would indeed have to use the path up.

At the end of the path they would find an opening in the rock, a doorway made from the hardest rock of the volcano but perfectly constructed. Through there they would gain access to the inner workings of the volcano. There would be passages and rooms, great hallways and assembly chambers, but no lava. Something that Ryo found strange, there was no crater to this volcano it seemed. Just a mountain with a well developed cave system.

For those who did not know the interior of the volcano it would most certainly be a maze, but there were some characteristics to maneuver by that would negate this. First, except for the lower levels and a few at the top, every level had one large hallway at the center, from which passages up and down could be found. If they simply went up they would eventually reach the top, for that would be where they had the biggest chance of finding Death Meramon.

The top level was smallest and not that easy to get lost in. Its most distinguishable feature was the exit which would take them to a ledge on the outside. From that point there would be steps in the stone that would take them to the summit of the volcano.

A lake of lava would await them there, with a small island of stone in the center. On that stone slab was a structure that was the former home of Blue Meramon, accessible only by a small stone bridge. It was assumed that's where Death Meramon would reside, spiting them by setting up shop in the home of their former leader.

The plan was to use stealth to find their way to the top and take out Death Meramon. In essence a simple plan in theory, but a lot harder to execute in practice.

"This will be tough," Thundermon commented.

"But it is doable," Sorcerymon said. He knew that this was not an easy task like the rest of them, but showing a positive attitude helped bolster moral.

"Still," Thundermon said.

"Less so if you had a guide," Meramon ventured slowly, as if still debating with himself about what he was saying, "I will go with you."

* * *

"Are you really sure about this Captain?" Ryo asked one more time as they stood at the foot of the path up the mountain.

"I'm sure, I've been sitting here doing nothing long enough," Meramon answered, his voice showing his determination, "and call me Meramon, the guard is no more and neither is my rank."

All in all it had taken them almost an hour to get the kinks out of their plan and get to where they were now. It was suggested to scale the mountain with every able-bodied digimon in the camp, but almost instantly rejected. Too many were too hurt to be of any help and the more there were the harder it would be to sneak in.

So the group from the coliseum together with Meramon, ex-captain of the guard, were about to start their ascend.

The first to go up the mountain were to be Tsukaimon and Thundermon, being able to fly they made the perfect scouts. If anything was waiting higher up they would warn the rest before they set foot right into a trap. The rest of them would follow on foot.

"Then lets do this," Ryo said, then turned to his two flyers, "Tsukaimon, Thundermon, you're up first. Good luck."

"Don't worry about anything," Tsukaimon replied, flapping his bat-like wings and taking flight.

"We know what to do," Thundermon supplied and also took off.

Ryo watched them go and waited for a few minutes before following. Without word the rest took after Ryo. V-mon was quick to walk in front of Ryo, while Sorcerymon and Bearmon took positions at either side of him. Meramon wand Turuiemon took up the rear.

* * *

"We haven't been properly introduced I think," Ryo said after they had already gone quite a way along the trail. He knew everyone in their group save this one and he was curious to find out more about the bear digimon. Find out more about what motivated him to join on this foolhardy business. The purpose of this tournament seemed clear enough and helping people while being tested didn't seem so wrong either, but there was still something that bothered him. He had faced down one godlike digimon and if asked would work certainly work against the ones turned bad alongside Quinglongmon. The other Chosen had also faced their fair share of Ultimate digimon, even more than he had. One of them could also do it, someone like Taichi. The other was certainly brave enough.

Why this tournament, why this testing, when only one was needed? Why would one of them even be needed to partner with the Sovereign? What difference would one Chosen really make?

These questions assailed him in these quiet moments if he wasn't thinking about Ken. For some reason the doubts just wouldn't leave him alone. In fact they seemed more powerful now that he was in this tournament.

Even being at Ken's sickbed, seeing no sign of recovery in the boy, hadn't made him feel so despondent. Ever since the dreams had started he hadn't been feeling quite like himself, getting steadily worse. Maybe he should talk about it to someone when he got back from this place, but whom could he talk to? A name came to him almost instantly, Neo would listen to him. It seemed odd that he would want to talk about his feelings and misgivings to someone he had just met yesterday, but the white-haired boy had been taking care of him right from the start.

But Neo wasn't here right now and even if he was he wouldn't, couldn't, just let everything out. Ryo felt he was a bit more composed than that. He knew of a way to keep the doubts away, the trick was to think about something else entirely and the easiest way to do that was to immerge oneself into a task or his surroundings.

So he chose his surroundings, more precisely his companions. They could offer him the distraction he needed, to keep him from going to deep inside himself. He had focused first on Bearmon then, the one he didn't know at all. High time to change all of that.

"I'm Akiyama Ryo," he continued, holding out his hand for the bear to shake. After a momentary stare the digimon obliged him.

"Bearmon, I've heard quite a lot about you," Bearmon said.

"Then you hold an advantage over me," the boy commented. Behind them Turuiemon chuckled.

"I'm curious what you know about me though, especially if you got your info from these guys. Speaking of which, how did you all meet anyway?"

"We all met in Tama City," Bearmon said, "before it was destroyed."

"Destroyed?" V-mon asked, "What happened? Thundermon mentioned Chimeramon before, did it involve him?"

"Yes," Bearmon answered, remembering vividly that fateful moment where his life changed forever. He told Ryo of how Sorcerymon found him and the other members of what would become the resistance against Devitamamon. The white wizard gave a terse account of what his actions during those early days right after he had helped Ryo to escape were. It wasn't that important, he said, to go into details. Nor would it be all that wise to keep speaking the higher they came. Meramon assured them that they could speak a while more before they could be overheard, so they made the most of it.

Bearmon told everything that happened, from when he met Sorcerymon, to how they nearly got caught if it wasn't for Turuiemon and his friends and then to the attack by Chimeramon. They kept talking for a while after that, Ryo telling them in turn some of what had befallen him since their last encounter.

Ryo was shocked that Tama City had been completely leveled, but considering it was done by the previous form of Millenniumon it was a miracle anyone survived at all.

Bearmon tried to measure up the boy he had heard so much about from the company he had set out of the ruins with. He lay at the beginning of all that had happened, though Chimeramon wasn't his fault. He began to think that maybe after they had helped Ryo with his current activities that he could in turn help them. The little bear's mood darkened as he thought back to the death of his best friend, Yuki Agumon, at the hands of a demon not long after Chimeramon had moved on. It was a relief to hear that that creature was dead, but the murderer of his friend was still alive. He vowed again, as he did every time that he thought about it, that he would make Boogeymon pay for what he had done. That was what they had set out to do aside from helping Ryo, in fact finding the human had been more of a lucky turn of events than an actual plan. But they had found him and now they were once again in the middle of a big mess.

* * *

It was several hours later that Tsukaimon returned to the group, who by then had fallen silent a long while ago having said everything they wanted and dared. Ryo used the time to mull over everything he had been told. He was quite surprised that Tama City was destroyed, even more so that he had not heard about it when he had been staying with Gennai. The old man always seemed so aware of what was going on. Did he know what had happened, or was he in the dark about it like Ryo had been. If Gennai knew, why didn't he tell him? And, more importantly, could there be more that he wasn't told? _Little soldier boy_, his own voice had said in his dream. He didn't like thinking about the dream, but maybe his double had a point. More than once his thoughts found their way back on this path and every time it did he shook it off. But it was becoming increasingly hard to do so.

Dark were also the thoughts of Bearmon, the recounting of their histories was like putting salt on an open wound. Even now, weeks after it had happened, he couldn't get past the death of Yuki Agumon. Digimon get reborn when they die, he knew that. But he also knew that there were limitations to that seemingly immortal life, Sorcerymon had told him about it. Because, contrary to what was often believed, it wasn't immortal. After death the digimon's data was reconfigured, but this did not always occur, and even if it did there was no guarantee all the memories would be in tact. If the data was too corrupted it wouldn't be possible to recompile the digimon at all. Many things could contribute to this, like the age the digimon died, the fashion in which it happened and many more. Fact is that rebirth was a tricky business. Another uncertainty was _where_ Yuki Agumon would be reborn; it could be so far away that they would never meet each other again.

"What have you got for us Kai?" Turuiemon asked as soon Tsukaimon was close enough to hear his hushed voice.

"We are close to the entrance now," came the soft reply, "a hundred meters or so. There are some rocks at the end of the path where it stops sloping. I left Thundermon there to keep watch, the entrance is guarded."

"That was expected," V-mon said, "but it's nothing we can't handle right?"

"There are four of him," Tsukaimon gestured at Meramon, "but they seem bored, not on guard at all."

"Still, that will change if we just go barging at them. From what I've heard the distance between the end of the path and the guarded entrance is large enough to give them time to retaliate."

"Right," Tsukaimon nodded, "from the end of the path there is a plateau of about fifteen to twenty meters to the door with no cover at all."

"So if we rush in we'll lose the element of surprise and maybe even more if they get a warning out," Ryo concluded.

"It's just as we expected then," Sorcerymon said.

"Then we'll go on with the original plan?" Bearmon asked.

"We are," Ryo said.

* * *

Tsukaimon stayed with them as the traversed the last part of the trail in silence. Within moments they would face the real problems of the mountain.

At the top of the path they huddled together behind the last cover of rock. Peering carefully over the rocks they could clearly see the four Meramon standing guard at the entrance some twenty meters away. Nothing the four did gave any inkling that they had been discovered. Ryo tapped both Thundermon and Tsukaimon, who were crouching near him, on their shoulders and motioned to the guards.

Flying low the two digimon moved past the plateau before going up at the left side of the guards, who still didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Staying out of their eye sight with this flanking maneuver Tsukaimon and Thundermon flew till they were now above the entrance and the guards.

Ryo and the others waited patiently till they finally saw that their friends were in position. This would take some timing to succeed, but Ryo was confident that they could pull it off.

Slowly Tsukaimon crept along the side of the mountain till he was sitting on top of the stone gateway, directly above the four Meramon. He gulped, feeling just a bit nervous about being so close to four beings that far surpassed him in raw power.

Thundermon hovered a bit higher, keeping a close eye on the guards and Tsukaimon, waiting for a sign from Tsukaimon or one from the guards signaling that they were discovered. The latter didn't happen, but the former came quite quick when the purple creature turned slightly towards him and nodded.

The electric digimon let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding and charged a ball of electricity in his hand. Below him Tsukaimon took a deep breath, then exhaled a purple mist that quickly settled around one of the Meramon's head.

Before the startled guards could do anything about this Thundermon let lose his own attack.

"Thunderbolt!" He said before the charged ball shot from his hand and collided with the head of another of the Meramon. Only a split second later did he follow the trajectory of his first attack downward, but with a slight course correction.

"Thunderbomber," he called out, charging his own body with electricity and impacting with a third Meramon right in the fire-giant's gut. His target dropped to one knee from the blow.

"Ow," Thundermon hissed, having underestimated the heat of the flames a bit. The attack had begun, but the guards were still far from beaten. The sleeping gas from Tsukaimon seemed to be working, but the Meramon he had hit with a thunderbolt was already getting up. The fourth Meramon didn't even have a scratch yet and was already moving in on the slightly dazed Thundermon.

A white flash to their side heralded the arrival of Sorcerymon, who had quickly teleported the small distance. The guard looked over, giving Thundermon the chance to get to his feet.

"Crystal Cloud!" the wizard exclaimed, shooting a flurry of icebolts at the fourth guard. Shielding himself as best as he could with his arms the Meramon was slowly forced back. A thump behind him was the only sign that Tsukaimon had been successful in taking out the first of the guards.

"Thunderbolt," Thundermon said, firing another electric ball at the same Meramon as before.

"Burning Fist," the third guard, back on his feet after the hard hit to his stomach, swung his fist at Sorcerymon. The wizard jumped back, breaking of the attack on the fourth guard.

"Aquarius Fill," Sorcerymon held out his staff before him, but nothing happened. The Meramon grinned, taking only one step forward when he got encased in a slightly transparent blue ball. A moment later the ball was filled with cold water. Meramon cried out, but the water drowned out the sound of his voice. Worse, by shouting he inadvertently allowed the water to enter his body. With no air to breath he started to choke. All around the form of water fog started to appear, the burning body of the digimon was already turning the water to vapor even as it weakened him.

Leaving him trapped inside the spell Sorcerymon turned to the remaining two Meramon. One of them was brawling with Thundermon, driving the electric digimon back with strength and body heat. The other was flexing his fists at him.

"This struggle is futile," Sorcerymon stated calmly.

"Is it?" Meramon replied.

"Yes, look to your left."

For a split second Meramon risked a glance to his left then gasped at what he saw. During the fight the others hadn't been sitting idly by and by now they were already right on top of the struggling digimon. There was no time for him to react; the fist approaching him was just to close. Turuiemon hit the guard right on his nose, then ducked away. Immediately a second fist followed the first, but this one was slightly bigger.

"Burning Fist," Meramon said, hitting the other Meramon right where Turuiemon had. With a loud groan the guard fell on his back, staring up into the sky in a daze. Only there was no sky, instead he looked into two yellow eyes set in a small face with purple fur.

"Bye now," Tsukaimon said, exhaling a large amount of purple fog. The Meramon started coughing violently and tried to swat the purple rodent out of the air, but Tsukaimon had already moved away. Already weakened from the punches the gas took effect pretty quick.

A bit away from them the ball of water suddenly collapsed, dropping its unconscious occupant on the ground. Now there was only one Meramon guard left standing.

"You," he hissed, ignoring the electric digimon he had been fighting moments earlier.

"Didn't expect this, did you," Meramon replied haughtily

"So you've come to save your leader," the guard spat, "don't even think for a second you can succeed."

"Leader?" Meramon said in surprise, "he's still alive?"

Now it was the guard's turn to look surprised.

"You mean you didn't know?" he asked.

"We know now," Ryo interrupted, "now take him down boys."

The guard took a tentative step back, not liking where this was going. The gesture though, was futile.

"Crystal Cloud," Sorcerymon said, shooting bolts of ice from the top of his staff. From behind the guard came another attack, one of Thundermon's thunderbolts. The two attacks hit the fire digimon at the same time, the force of it holding him in place. Racing forward Meramon decked him when the attacks of the others wore off. Flying over to the prone form of the last guard Tsukaimon finished the fight with his purple fog, insuring that the guards would remain out of it for a while. While the purple rodent took his time on using his sleep attack on every member of the guards one more time the others looked about them for any sign of detection. All of them, except Meramon.

"Meramon," Ryo said, moving closer to the man of fire, "you okay?"

The fire digimon had been looking at the mountain with a look of consternation and longing.

"If we can believe that traitor," Meramon began slowly, "then Blue Meramon is still alive in there. I have to get him out."

"We'll get him out," Ryo said, emphasizing on the 'we' part.

"Great, a change of plan," Turuiemon said exasperated, "can things get any better?"

No sooner had he said that when the sound of stomping feet came from inside the mountain, still some distance away but getting closer by the second.

"You just had to say it didn't you?" V-mon said dryly.

* * *

**Author's Notes**:

No I'm not dead yet, just been incredibly busy these last few months. Quite annoying when real life gets in the way of writing, but that's just what happened.

On another note, you may have noticed some slight layout changes compared to previous chapters. Well, it seemed that my double empty lines (which I used for scene-changes and the like) got swallowed during upload, so I'll try horizontal lines till this gets fixed.

Now for some comments concerning the reviews:

_Is this before or after the events of V-Tamer?_

Neither, the events of V-Tamer are a totally separate dimension though it bears similarities to the Adventure one. Because V-Tamer is so close to Adventure (unlike Tamers or Frontier) there is a Neo Saiba here too, but he is different than his counterpart. He did go to the digital world and to Folder, but he wasn't drafted there by Demon to raise the ultimate digimon. Like I've already said, there will be no multi-season/manga crossover in this. Everyone in this dimension is indigenous to the Adventure's dimension. About his famous line, just wait and see.

I can't really go into any other questions/remarks/comments because that would spoil stuff. Thanks for all the thoughtful reviews and, hopefully, my long absence hasn't scared anyone off. Well, we'll see what happens. Next update shouldn't take months though I can tell you that (unless something unforeseen comes up).

**Translation: Japanese to English**:

Death Meramon = Skull Meramon

Next Chapter:

The volcano and its threats looms in front of Ryo and the others. What started as a simple assassination has changed to a rescue operation, but is Blue Meramon actually still alive?


	23. And into the fire

**Chapter 22: Trial by Fire part 2**

**…and into the fire**

Ryo's log: August 2000, Blue Meramon's volcano, Digiworld.

Our first test has already proved to be quite a task. We are supposed to save a group of downtrodden digimon by beating a perfection level digimon by the name of Death Meramon and his Meramon associates. One of the Meramon who got thrown out when Death Meramon took over has joined us. Now we have climbed the volcano to the entrance, but there were guards there. Just the first obstacle of many more to come.

End log

"Well that was quick," Ryo said wryly, "being discovered now wasn't what I was going for."

"What now? Do we retreat?" Tsukaimon asked. It was a futile question though, if they didn't go through they would not be able to return home, or at least that was the logical assumption. And there was the matter of pride. That didn't mean he had to like it though.

"Maybe we can still pull this off," Sorcerymon ventured, "Meramon, stand in front of the entrance looking outward and act as if you're a guard."

"Right," Ryo said, "the rest of us, get out of sight."

They were taking a big chance, if there were too many and if they saw the bodies of the other guards to soon there would be no telling what could happen. As the steps came closer to the entrance Meramon, who now stood directly in front of it, could distinctly hear two set of footsteps.

"Two," he whispered to the others, keeping a rigid stance to feint duty. He had seen it done by some of his own subordinates back in the day when they thought he hadn't seen them slouching off right before an inspection.

Meramon glanced to his left; there just at the side of the opening lurked Turuiemon with his two cronies hovering slightly above him. To his left, at the other side, were Ryo, V-mon, Sorcerymon and Bearmon.

Behind him the footsteps were beginning to slow down, till they stopped almost on top of him.

"So, this is where you guys went," one of them said.

"Not thinking about raiding the dumps again are you?" the second commented, "they're too young and to ugly to have any fun with."

Meramon's right hand tightened into a fist, the ones they had taken out weren't there for guard duty at all it seemed. Surprisingly they hadn't discovered the limp bodies sprayed all around the plateau yet. He didn't remember these guys that well, only that they always hung around Death Meramon and weren't fit to enter the guard. And for good reason it now seemed.

"Hey, why aren't you saying anything, and where are the other…" The Meramon trailed off, at last discovering the bodies of his friends' laying about.

"What the…" the other muttered, taking an involuntary step back as Meramon chuckled. Wheeling around on the spot the Captain faced his two startled kinsmen. At both his sides the others appeared, ready to attack the unfortunate fire digimon. A chorus of attack names rang through the air, to much for the two Meramon to bear. When the dust, set into the air by the resulting attacks, settled down the two targets were gone, completely eradicated.

"I had hoped to do this without killing any of them," Ryo sighed.

"They deserved it," Meramon said blandly.

"I suppose," said Ryo, but he still wasn't all that happy about it, "anyway let's continue before anything else shows up. I'll take one group and go up to Death Meramon. Meramon, you're the only one who knows this place so you should try and find Blue Meramon while we distract Death Meramon upstairs."

* * *

Minutes after the group of invaders had entered the volcano the air started to shimmer in the middle of the plateau. Out of nowhere a tall fox appeared, surveying the bodies of the Meramon.

"You are still so soft," he whispered, "that won't do at all."

A groan brought his attention to a body lying a few feet away, it was already waking up.

"What can you expect if you let a child take care of garbage control. Gas isn't nearly as effective as the more tried and true methods of removal."

Gracefully the cold-eyed fox knelled down at the prone figure of the ground, raising a fist above the head.

"Wisteria Punch," he grinned, slamming his fist through the Meramon's head. An instant later the body burst apart and the fox rose to his feet.

"That's how you take out guards when sneaking into someone's domain. That is how you make sure they won't be back to haunt you later, something you should have learned already. No matter, I'll take them down for you for now. You are not for them boy."

* * *

"Where do you suppose they've got him imprisoned?" Turuiemon asked. When they had separated from Ryo and the others Meramon had quickly led them to a stairwell leading to the level below.  For the most part this level was similar to the one above, a wide corridor of dark stone leading from one end of the volcano to the next. Though there were subtle differences, like the slightly darker tone of the stones, or the increased number of torches.

They came from the stairwell to the side of the corridor and carefully peeked from behind the faint shelter of the wall before venturing into the open. Nobody seemed to be there aside from the four of them, but there was no telling how long that would last.

Meramon gave the question some thought before answering, "There can only be two places where he could be held. Either completely at the top where the others are headed or on the lower levels, there can be no other place to contain someone like him. One of our groups will find him and then come to the aid of the others, it is the best plan."

"But risky, dividing ourselves like this." Tsukaimon commented. The small digimon was the first to race across to the other side of the corridor, to another set of stairs down.

"But it is rather easy going down like this," Thundermon said, "as long as there are no others in our way we will be at the bottom in no time at all."

The others didn't waste any time and followed their small companion, all the while casting furtive glances down the corridor.

"About that," Meramon started, "it won't be quite that simple, even if we see no one else. And the place they keep Blue Meramon is sure to be guarded."

"Things are never easy when we become involved," Turuiemon said, "so what is going to change when we go down?"

"Right now we can use passages down directly from where we came on that level, but in a floor or five there will only be one passage, either one going up or one going down, on any side of the hallways. So we'll have to completely cross a hallway to the other side before we can go down again. Worse, most of the living quarters are down there. Lots of rooms, with no telling who could be in any of them at all I'm afraid."

"That's just great," Thundermon muttered; things were getting worse and worse. Splitting up, possibilities enough to get ambushed, it all didn't sound good. Still, there was no sense griping over what might lie ahead. With Tsukaimon flying first down the stairs the small group descended another level.

Behind them, still in the hallway, the air shimmered slightly before getting still once again.

* * *

Several more levels down the lay of the place changed as Meramon had said it would. The lighting had become sporadic, casting great shadows on most of the hallway. That had not changed, the existence of a central passage. The group collectively tensed up as a rolling laughter came from somewhere up ahead. Unlike the other floors this one was clearly occupied.

Motioning for silence, a mostly futile gesture as no one was inclined to make a noise; Turuiemon tapped Tsukaimon on his back. A slight sigh escaped the small rodent digimon's lips; he knew what was expected of him even before his comrade pointed towards the other end of the hallway.

Being the smallest and capable of flight he was the perfect choice for scouting ahead of the others. Of course he hated every single moment of it. One day, he swore, he wouldn't be the runt of the litter anymore.

The hall was mostly silent again as he carefully fluttered through it. Stopping at a doorway at the left wall he carefully peeked inside, but the room was empty. Scuttling about on all fours he raced to get past the open space. At the other side he turned slightly to give a thumbs-up sign to the rest. Quickly they moved ahead and ducked inside the empty room. Doing this without being detected was going to take time, time they didn't have.

"We have to speed this up," Turuiemon whispered urgently. With every second they wasted here the others would get closer to the top and, most likely, Death Meramon. It seemed unlikely that they would be able to beat a Perfection alone. But what choice did they have, they had to reach the ring leader before his forces knew they were there and also rescue a prisoner without getting detected. Unfortunately the two targets were at completely opposite ends.

Tsukaimon moved to the other wall, the next opening was there. Again, after several moments of checking they got the signal that there was nothing in the room. This went on till about halfway, where the purple digimon found three Meramon together in one room.

"Is there another way past them?" Turuiemon asked from the safety of the room they were in.

"No, all the rooms here are only connected through this main passage. The walls are also too resilient to damage for us to break through," Meramon answered, remembering what he could of the layout of this floor.

"We can never get past them unseen, but maybe if we're fast enough…" the purple rabbit trailed off.

* * *

Meanwhile the other group led by Ryo was experiencing similar difficulties. The small group of four was perched on the top steps of the fifth stairwell up. Standing in the middle of a considerably smaller hallway were two Meramon, deeply engrossed in some discussion. Effectively blocking the way further up.

"Can't they stop this inane babbling," V-mon hissed, "who cares who won last night's poker game or if someone cheated. You may not even survive the day if worst comes to worst."

"We'll give them some time to move away," Ryo said softly, "if they're not gone in a few minutes we'll proceed anyway."

* * *

"On three," Meramon mouthed to the others. Silently the countdown began after everyone gave an affirmative nod. The game had almost been up when a lose pebble was accidentally kicked past the door by Turuiemon. Luckily the Meramon thought nothing of it, still secure in their thoughts that nothing would dare, or even be able to, get this far into their stronghold.

"Go!" They all mouthed at the same time, Turuiemon jumping from behind the door opening and rushing inside the room. Before the surprised men could react, Meramon and Thundermon had also appeared in the open space.  

A ball of bright red flames and one of bluish sparks flew over the charging rabbit's head, each striking another of the fiery giants.

"Swift Secret Punch," Turuiemon called out, but not as loudly as one usually did. There could still be more of the Meramon on this floor aside from these three. The rabbit punched swiftly, but was blocked by an opposing palm. Growling he started launching more and more punches, entering into a violent boxing match with the fire digimon.

From the corner of his eye Turuiemon saw Thundermon clinging onto a Meramon's head for dear life, pumping considerable amounts of electricity into his target while mouthing his discomfort. There was a faint scent of burning rubber in the air, which he reckoned could only come from his struggling friend. Somewhere behind him he could hear the muffled sounds and groans of another struggle as Meramon took care of his former comrade.

A rushing of air was the only clue he got of a lightning fast punch meant to take his head off. It would have too if he hadn't moved out of the way at the last second. He drowned out the sounds around him; this was no time to be concerned about anyone else. At first he had driven the bigger man back, but the moment of surprise was gone as was the momentum of the charge. Now his opponent was throwing his superior strength into the fight, making the purple rabbit rely on his skills.

* * *

From outside of the room Tsukaimon periodically looked at the struggling forms as well as the shadow-cloaked hallway. His eyes kept switching between the two sights frantically; they weren't exactly being quiet in there.

In the room Thundermon rolled on the floor, examining his slightly smoking body. At his side the Meramon was unconscious from the torrent of power he had been saturated with. Their Meramon, the captain, had another of his kind in a furious headlock, blocking the other's air supply. The only fight that did not have a definite winner was the one Turuiemon was in; the two combatants were still going at each other fervently.   

It was quite a spectacle, punches being thrown and blocked, kicks flying out and being evaded. But Meramon was heating up now, both mentally and physically, his touch was beginning to seriously burn.

"Turuiemon," Thundermon called out, ready to attack again.

"No," the rabbit replied, "stay out of this."

That was just like their leader, once he set his mind to something he would not let it go or abide with interference. A slight breeze, barely noticeable, tickled his ear from behind.

With a start Tsukaimon whirled in place, sure that there was something there causing the air displacement. But when he looked there was nothing there.

* * *

Turuiemon gritted his teeth, the Meramon was putting up a great fight, one he hadn't had for a while. Thundermon wanted to help, but his pride wouldn't allow it, not this time. The last big fight had been against that demon Chimeramon; they had their behinds handed back to them there. Time to prove he still had what it takes to fight, to win.

With renewed determination he continued to attack the Meramon, this time forcing the brute back a bit. He knew it wouldn't last; it was a painful fact that the fire digimon was simply a lot stronger than he was. But, where strength failed brains might just win the match._Brains, who's got brains here_? He could picture V-mon saying if he were here.

Caught up in the action he didn't seem tonotice a crack in the floor as he pressed his advantage, then suddenly it was right there, right were his foot landed and skidded slightly to remain balanced. The crack ruined it though, nearly making him trip. Falling would have been disastrous, but the attempt to regain his footing left him wide open for an attack.

With a grin of victory Meramon took the opportunity presented to him, only when his fist was about to connect with Turuiemon's head it wasn't there anymore. Surefooted the purple rabbit now stood at Meramon's right side, landing a devastating punch in the big man's unprotected flank. Meramon nearly bent over in pain, but Turuiemon's next few hits didn't even leave him the opportunity to do that. A few more hits to the side and some at his head was enough to make the fighter drop on the floor.

"Impressive," Meramon muttered, "though kind of underhanded."

"Whatever works," Turuiemon shrugged, taking the lead leaving the room. When they were gone a slight shimmering of the air brought the fifth unwanted guest into the room, looking at the fallen fighters with disdain.

"This has gone on far enough," he said coldly to the prone figures. "You're all proving to be a big disappointment to me. Dumb as you are it can't be that hard to take down three adults and a child in your own environment. Yet you continue to do nothing as you lose more of your own. Looks like I'll have to do something derisive to change the situation."

He turned back to the door opening, his tail flickering about gracefully as he completed the turn. A look of murder crossed his face.

"Unfortunately you won't be there to see it," with a hiss the fox turned again, his claws reflecting the little light there was.

* * *

"Okay, that's it," V-mon murmured testily. If he had to listen to two men comparing muscles in his life ever again it would be too soon. The others were feeling as he did, even the collected sorcerer looked a bit miffed. Bearmon was patting a wooden bat with a certain zeal that showed what he was planning to do with it. Where he got the thing from Ryo couldn't tell, but he had seen enough digimon attacks to know that sometimes things just happened.

"I don't know about you guys but I've wasted enough of my time here."

"I know what you mean," Sorcerymon said. The two Meramon were like a black hole, sucking in all intelligent thoughts. It was a crime just to let them continue talking.

Ryo nodded his assent, thinking briefly of the group going down the mountain. At first glance they had the tougher part; most of the guards would be down there. However they would not have to fight a powerful Perfect with only a small group. He tried telling himself that they stood a chance, both V-mon and Sorcerymon at adult level were very strong and he had even squared off against an Ultimate level with nothing but the victory dragon at his side. Not that that went very well, but compared to that Death Meramon would be easy.

_Keep telling yourself that Ryo_, he thought,_maybe before this is over you'll even believe it._

"Let's go," he said, averting his eyes from the slight flash of light that appeared as Sorcerymon did the opposite, disappearing from everyone's sight.

Bearmon jumped into full view of the two adults, throwing up a baseball.

"Cub Strike," he said, taking a swing as the ball descended. With great speed the ball flew at the left Meramon, hitting him square on the nose. In a daze the stricken digimon fumbled back somewhat while his friend glared daggers at Bearmon.

"Hey," he started saying when suddenly a staff struck the back of both his knees. With a sharp cry he fell forward on his knees. Ryo winced despite of himself, hoping no one had heard that.

"Again," Bearmon said, taking a swing at the ball that had ricocheted on the Meramon's head and then the ceiling. Again the ball flew away from the bear, hitting the same Meramon for the second time in exactly the same place. The fire digimon, who had about recovered from the hit and shock of the attack, recoiled again while next to him the white sorcerer was shooting ice in the other Meramon's face at pointblank range.

"V-mon Head!" The blue lizard became the third object to impact with Meramon's head in a few seconds time. After the hit V-mon somersaulted to the floor, looking at the large body that was tilting over even now. 

"Strike three," the little bear said enthusiastically. The man of fire barely had a moment's time to wonder why this was happening to him when the ball hit him hard under his chin. He went down for the count.

"Well done guys," Ryo said, walking over. Not for the first time he regretted that he could do so little himself.

* * *

Almost directly below them was the other group, going lower with due haste. Caution had been thrown mostly into the wind. Tsukaimon was still scouting ahead of them, but was doing it a lot faster now. Flying down a hall, looking into rooms as he flew by, hoping not to be discovered if they were occupied. So far there had been no problem, but that would soon change.

Leading on the flying mammal led them down another flight of stairs, arriving into a new environment. Gone was the large central hallway, instead this floor consisted of smaller passages and a lot of rooms, some of them interconnected to each other, some dead-ends.

"This is good, we're getting closer to the dungeon level," Meramon commented. His voice came out louder than he had planned, an echo effect created by the cavern walls. The group stood in silence for well nigh half a minute, listening for approaching footsteps. There were none.

Without speaking another word they proceeded through the many winding corridors, this time Meramon led the way. Finding the way through the maze of passages would have been impossible otherwise and they couldn't speak in fear of being detected so no one else could go in front. Even so, the sound of their own footsteps sounded far too loud to their ears.

* * *

After a while the twisting corridors and rooms they passed were beginning to look the same, not like the hallways on the upper levels had, with their perfect symmetry and design. These passages were nothing like that; in fact none of the lower floors looked the same like that. No, it was the feeling of being enclosed, of seeing the same walls and endless turns, of rooms in darkness.

At long last Meramon called them to a stop, looking about carefully. They stood on a crossroad of corridors, the passage ahead of them ended several meters further with a door down to the left and a small tiger statue next to it.

"This is it, the dungeons are down here," he whispered, "there'll be a guard room and some cells, though Blue Meramon will probably be at the lowest floor."

"Multiple floors? Quite a lot of prisons for such a peaceful community," Turuiemon said, not quite able to silence the suspicious voice in his head. It was just too nestled inside of him.

"They were there when we settled here, no clue who was here before us or what they were used for. We couldn't get rid of them so we simply ignored them," Meramon explained. Turuiemon nodded, satisfied with the explanation.

"Shall we keep going?" Thundermon asked, reminding them that time was of the essence here.

Now with Tsukaimon in the front they descended the final meters into the lions den, either freeing a powerful Perfect level digimon or walking right into a trap.

At first glance though, it was neither. No trap waited for them, but neither was there any sign of the one they had come to find. As Meramon had said, he was probably being held at the deepest levels. What they did hear however was a murmuring of several voices; it seemed to be coming from a metal door in the middle of the rows of cells. At their sides were small cubicles, hacked into the stone wall to form chambers each a few meters wide and high. Metal bars enclosed them from the rest of the cavern. At the other end was a dark hole in the wall, only visible by the faint light of the torches hanging at either side. Similar torches hang at each side of a large metal door in the left wall, the guard room. Luckily the door was closed and, even more lucky, all the voices came from inside. Quickly, yet quietly, the four interlopers made their way past the cells to the other side. They got there safely and undetected, it seemed all was going to go perfectly.

That was till several crystal-like chards came seemingly out of nowhere, striking and breaking the metal door to the guard room. The four stood in silent amazement on the steps with Meramon still at the top and, to their everlasting regret, in plain sight for any who would even glance in their direction.

And someone did, a lot of someone's. Meramon after Meramon exited the room, looking for the mysterious attacker. Instead they found their former captain standing frozen, looking at them. The stare down lasted only a moment as Meramon nudged his companions to move to the next level with a simple word.

"Run!"

Balls of fire erupted harmlessly against the stones as the guards sprang into action, running after the small party. Not one of them thought it strange that a party using stealth had risked everything by futilely destroying a door and drawing their attention. Likewise, in the heat of the moment, the interlopers didn't think anything more of it either. When the floor was empty again a low chuckle could be heard if there had been anyone to listen.

"Let's see you deal with that, boys," Renamon grinned, his work there complete.

* * *

"Finally, light at the end of the tunnel," V-mon grinned. Trying to lighten the mood a little. They had finally made it to the top level without any more difficulties, but that didn't mean they were in the clear, far from it.

Also, if there weren't any Meramon here they had to be on the lower levels, a thought that every one of them stumbled on at one point. They had no way of knowing how the others were faring, or if they were even still alive.

V-mon was the first to step out of the cavern and onto a stony plateau, similar to the one at the entrance far beneath them only smaller. And instead of a path down there was one going up to the crater.

A gust of wind blew past them, bringing soot and small pebbles with it. The blue lizard, who had just been in the process of taking a deep breath of fresh air got his mouth full.

"Grosse," he spit out, as well as the unwanted particles. The others got a chuckle out of their friend's antics.

"Kind of cold here isn't it," Ryo said, rubbing his arms.

"Not what I was expecting from a volcano," Bearmon added, "something must really be wrong here."

In silence they hiked up the makeshift path to the top, expecting to see a lake of lava as Meramon had foretold. No such thing, the first thing they noticed, even when they weren't at the top yet, was a faint blue glow. The temperature also dropped some more degrees, not quite freezing yet but it was getting there.

When they past the final turn of the path they could see why, the entire top of the crater was frozen.

"My god," Ryo muttered in awe, "what could do this to a volcano?"

"There is some strange energy involved," Sorcerymon stated, holding his staff level in front of him with both hands. His eyes were closed, but there was a look of concentration on his pale face.

"It's so dark and cold, l have never felt the like before," the sorcerer continued, but even as he said it he knew it wasn't completely true. He had felt it before and not to long ago either, it felt somewhat like the evil presence of Chimeramon when he had leveled Tama City.

"It's coming from the center structure," he finished, bringing is staff down. The structure Sorcerymon referred to was like a cube of stone, sitting on a small island of rock, one of the few parts that wasn't turned into ice. The stepping stones used to reach it over the lake of lava were in a similar state, the rest was all turned cold.

"Should we really go?" Bearmon gulped. He wasn't really comfortable having to deal with someone like Death Meramon and certainly not with some dark energy that could freeze lava.

"You can stay here if you want," Ryo said, "no one will think less of you if you do."

"No," Bearmon protested quickly, he didn't want to be left behind either. And besides, if they failed what chance did he have of escaping this place alive.

"I'm going, just, not that quickly," he said bashfully. True to his word Bearmon followed last as they carefully moved over the slippery ice, more hesitant than the others but he wouldn't be left behind. Ryo walked in the middle, just behind Sorcerymon and V-mon. This was going to be serious the boy realized.

"V-mon," he said, holding his digivice in plain sight as the lizard and sorcerer turned to look at him. Seeing the light blue device with white trimmings V-mon nodded, feeling energy flowing into him. Within a few heartbeats his larger form, V-dramon, stood on the icy field. The evolutionary process didn't go unnoticed however as a booming laugh came from the opening in the structure ahead of them.

"Guests, how interesting," a menacing voice called out to them, "come closer then to my humble abode."

Another laugh and something large came through the open door.

* * *

"I hate this," Thundermon said, and not for the first time. At the sight of all the guards, far too many for them to overcome, they had run deeper into the prison. The second level of cells offered no real shelter, and neither did the third. They were trapped, hiding in cells at either side of the corridor, close to another way down but not close enough. The bars broken even before they had come, the cells gave them much needed cover. More fireballs whizzed past there hiding place as more guards descended the stairs. Occasionally Meramon or Thundermon managed to shoot back with a fireball and thunderbolt respectively.

They would hold out, but it would not be long. Turuiemon and Tsukaimon, who had no long range attacks whatsoever, could do nothing to assist.

"We have to free Blue Meramon," Meramon said to Turuiemon, forming a ball of fire in one of his hands, "that's the only way we're going to stand a chance."

"Alright," Turuiemon said, "Tsukaimon and I will go down, you and Thundermon cover us."

The electric digimon grumbled in reply, but charged his hands nonetheless.

"Go!" Meramon shouted, moving out of the cell and into the corridor slightly, throwing fireballs as he went. Instead of immediately backing off he kept firing, Thundermon doing the same at the other side. Making a mad dash Turuiemon threw himself head first down the stairs, tumbling down uncomfortably and ungracefully. Luckily he didn't break anything nor was he hit by any fire from the guards. Tsukaimon followed closely afterward.

"Ouch," the rabbit muttered, "I'm not going to do that again any time soon."

"Anyone alive down here?" Tsukaimon asked loudly. They were in a circular room, with three cells to their left and three to their right. A statue of a fierce tiger, similar to the one they had seen earlier only bigger, stood directly opposite to the entrance. Before the answer came they had already noticed a blue glow coming from the middle cell to their left.

"That would depend on who was asking," A hoarse voice answered them, "and what is that commotion up there?"

"We're here to rescue you," Tsukaimon said, flying over to the cell. Inside was the one they were looking for, a Meramon with blue flames.

"I see," Blue Meramon said skeptically, "and how do you plan to do that without a key?"

It was then that they saw the bars were made from Chrome Digizoid and not ordinary metal like the rest of the cell doors were. They'd have to be to hold a digimon of this level captive.

"Rats," Turuiemon cursed.

* * *

The being that came out of the shadows was huge, almost a head larger than a normal Meramon. He wore big boots of black leather and silver metal, a metallic skull at the toes. Black tight fitting pants with a flame pattern was his only piece of clothing, leaving a muscled torso bare for the world to see if it hadn't been for the chains wound around him. Blue flames played around his arms and upper body following the chains.

His face was a metal mask shaped like a skull, open in the back to let out blue flaming hair. Two orbs of fire shone maliciously from the eye holes.

"So, come here to finish the job, you dirty bastards," Death Meramon growled, looking each of them over. His rage finally settled on Ryo and if looks could kill he would have dead many times over. Ryo was just glad this was not the type of digimon that could kill with a simple look.

"We've come here to stop your tyranny," Ryo stated, not withering under the fiery look.

"I bet you are," Death Meramon said, not believing a word he was saying. Ryo wondered why that was.

"Your master be damned," the tyrant continued, "I'm going to kill you and if I ever find out who he is I'm gonna do the same to him!"

The flames suddenly increased in intensity while an arm as large as a tree trunk swung a large chain around in increasing circles.

"Heat Chain!"

* * *

_A blizzard was about to form, or maybe it was the previous storm coming back after a few minutes rest. A bedraggled figure trudging through the snow hardly seemed to care; a storm was a storm after all. His large footprints and the trail made by a forgotten chain were beginning to get filled with fresh snow. Within moments there would be no sign of his passage in this land of white._

_"Not doing so good I see," a voice said contemptuously. In the past he would have immediately flung his chain around to bisect whoever dared mock him. But what was the point. He did look at where he thought the voice was coming from._

_"What do you want," Death Meramon demanded of the cloaked stranger standing not to far from him. He knew his voice used to sound stronger, but again, what was the point._

"You seem to be going through a bit of a rough time, so I'll be brief with you. I have a proposition for you and you'd be wise to accept it. There's a valley not far from here, mere days away, filled with gullible fire digimon. The sort you'd have no trouble of bringing over to your side."

_Death Meramon could hardly believe it, was this stranger actually saying there was a place nearby where he could rule? After his last failed coup-de-tat he had not thought it possible again._

_"My proposition is this, take over the place within a month then I will make sure that no one will be able to take back the place from you," the stranger said._

_"What's the catch?"_

_Naturally Death Meramon was suspicious of such a kind offering, nobody did things out the kindness of their hearts. And of his stranger he wondered if he really had a heart for all the emotion he was showing._

_"No catch, I simply have some business to conduct there for my master and I don't want to be disturbed by the inhabitants. I doubt they'd approve. And, when my master is ready to rule they'd rebel against him, but if you rule it will save us some trouble. You'll be in sole command of the region."_

_"How do I know I can trust you?" the fire giant asked, already being swayed by the promise of conquest. In answer, the stranger showed him a small device he recognized instantly._

* * *

_Smirking Death Meramon sat on his newly acquired throne, taking it had been easier than he had expected. Though now that he sat on it he had to admit it wasn't what he was expecting or hoping for, the throne was downright uncomfortable. How Blue Meramon could stand to sit on it day after day was beyond him. Of course, now that it was his, there was nothing to stop him from redecorating it. Maybe some gold, some fine tapestries and this Spartan tomb would be somewhat livable. The sound of hands clapping brought him out of his revelry._

_"Very well done," the same dark cloaked stranger he had met in the snow all those weeks ago had returned. As he had said he would._

_"Of course, now what can I do for you?" Death Meramon said forcibly. He was no longer in the weak state of mind of their first meeting._

_"To fulfill the end of the bargain of course. You don't object now do you? There are still survivors and when they regroup they could pose a problem."_

_"They won't be any problem, weaklings that they are. But what the hell, go ahead and finish your business here," Death Meramon drawled. The sooner the stranger would be gone the better._

_"If you would step outside then, I'll need some privacy for this."_

_Seeing no reason not to let the stranger have some time alone the new ruler of the volcano stepped out of his throne room, taking in a fresh breath of hot air when he stood at the edge of the small stone outcropping. For a while he heard nothing, then the stranger spoke once more; "Greetings, Lord Demon."_

* * *

_Death Meramon waited at the edge of the lava. After those first words he had heard nothing more, the stranger must have shielded the room somehow. Not that he cared, at least not at first. Now he was getting agitated by the delay. Here he was, ruler of the mountain, waiting on someone else outside of his very throne room. It was unheard of._

_At long last the stranger left his room, an air of smugness surrounding him._

_"You're finally done?" Death Meramon demanded._

_"Yes, I'm done. A pleasure doing business with you, though after this we won't meet again," the stranger said._

_"Good, then get out of here."_

_"I will," the stranger said, walking past him to a corner of the structure, then as if suddenly realizing something, "oh, I wouldn't venture into the hole if I were you."_

_"What hole?" Death Meramon asked, looking a bit worriedly at his throne room. When he looked again the stranger was gone. And was it just him, or was there a sudden chill in the air?_

* * *

Meanwhile Turuiemon cursed a blue streak, surprising even Tsukaimon.

"Of course we'd need a key, if we could have blasted him out he would have done it himself already. Damnit, why does this always happen," Turuiemon raved. The sounds coming from upstairs weren't comforting either.

"Oh, we're all going to die this time," Tsukaimon wailed.

"Well, if it's a key you want, I've got one," Blue Meramon said, a bemused look on his face at the antics of his would-be rescuers.

"What?!" The two digimon exclaimed.

"I have the key to the cell, but the lock is on the outside and I can't reach it from where I am," Blue Meramon explained. Turuiemon and Tsukaimon had the most shocked expression on their faces as the prisoner dangled a key in front of his face. With a quick toss the key landed outside of the cell at the rabbit's feet.

"Well why didn't you say so before?" Turuiemon demanded, as he tried to fit the key into the lock. After a few attempts he managed to turn the lock and open the door.

"You didn't ask," Blue Meramon said simply, calmly walking out of his cramped cell. Obviously the Perfection was a joker, just great.

"But what's happening up there anyway?" Blue Meramon sounded serious now.

"Thundermon and Meramon, your former captain, are holding off a whole bunch of guards alone. They can't be doing to good." Tsukaimon explained, "We'll never get out that way."

"Luckily we won't have to," Blue Meramon said, dramatically pointing at the tiger statue, "Flick the left tooth and a secret passage to above the dungeons opens. Go through and block the upper entrance to the dungeon while I help the others. Then when we escape the guards will be trapped here! Now go!"

Giving them no chance to reply the blue man of fire charged up the stairs.

"Excitable fellow isn't he?" Tsukaimon mumbled.

"How are we to close of an entrance in this place anyway?" Turuiemon muttered.

* * *

The chain clashed violently against the ice, sending shards of it everywhere. Ryo was just glad he wasn't there when the chain hit. For some reason Death Meramon was fixated on him. Luckily V-dramon had been able to grab him and jump out of the way.

"Cutter Shoot," the dragon called out, shooting a multitude of small v-shaped blasts at the brute that dared attack his partner. The attack barely even fazed the giant.

Appearing at Death Meramon's flank, Sorcerymon brought his staff to bear, "Crystal Cloud."

The attack hit the hot skin of Death Meramon with a fizzle, temporarily extinguishing some of the flames. Now it was the sorcerer's time to jump away as the chain lashed out at him and kept on trying to hit him.

"V-breath Arrow," V-dramon exclaimed, making Death Meramon grunt as the blast hit him in the stomach. Bearmon also took this as a chance to attack, batting a hard ball at their enemy. It hit him on the arm, burning to a crisp instantly.

"Ah! He burned my ball," Bearmon wailed.

"Attacks like that can't hurt me," Death Meramon chuckled, letting his eye fall on the little bear.

"You'd need attacks like this, Heavy Metal Fire."

A veritable river of blue flames raced at the little cub, to fast for him to escape, to fast for him to even scream. He did scream though, but the sound came from somewhere above the ground. Ryo let out a sigh of relieve, Sorcerymon had quickly teleported over to Bearmon and saved the child.

"Still not good enough!" Death Meramon roared. His chain was already halfway across the distance separating giant and wizard.

"Cutter shoot," V-dramon shouted, attacking the chain with small bolts of energy. Most of them missed by a long shot, but a few did manage to slightly change the direction the chain was heading too. This gave Sorcerymon the opportunity to veer out of the way. Passing them safely by the chain reached the end of its rope and crashed on the ice, again shattering an upper layer. Ryo half suspected that by the time they were through much, if not all, the ice would be shattered. It still boggled him as to how a lake filled with hot molten lava could freeze so completely. More surprising was that while they had held Death Meramon responsible the usurper seemed to think the same about them. It could be a ploy, but he felt it more likely that something more was going on here. Over the past month he had seen enough things to suspect that there were many forces at work in the Digital World and most of them did not have the best of interests. Though he didn't know what was going on Ryo did feel the stirring of a half forgotten memory, something about the Perfect's rage was familiar. It was like those Unimon all over again, only Death Meramon was no holy beast.

On the battlefield the sorcerer had put Bearmon safely on the ground and now both were dashing away in opposite directions. V-dramon was also on the move, trying to make an opening to attack Death Meramon's flank. The fire giant wasn't falling for it and followed the dragon's movements. That's when Sorcerymon struck again. A blue glow, unlike the temperamental blue of the flames, appeared around the fire digimon filled with the serenity of pure water. A moment later it was physically filled with water, encasing Death Meramon in an element directly opposite of his own. But while it had easily dealt with the adult digimon it did practically nothing against him, already a lot of steam came from the ball of water. By powering up his flames he succeeded in vaporizing the rest of the liquid sphere, but this left him completely surrounded by a cloud of gas, obscuring him from sight. Or rather, it obscured all of them from his sight; they knew exactly where he was. It was a perfect chance for them.

"Lucky," V-dramon grinned, his form partially hidden by the fleeting gas.

"Hammer Punch!" The victory dragon happily said, hammering away at Death Meramon's body with fists and clawed feet.

"Crystal Cloud," Sorcerymon pointed his staff at Death Meramon's back, where hopefully the chance of accidentally hitting V-dramon as well would be the smallest.

"Cub Strike," Bearmon also tried to pitch in as much as he could, somehow able to get more baseballs to bat at Death Meramon for all they were worth. For a moment Ryo held the hope that they could win, but then the Perfect reacted to the furious assault.

"Enough!" Death Meramon roared, sending out a heat wave at the same time. It flung V-dramon back several meters where he made a small impact crater in the ice. Aside from the dragon it also deflected the incoming projectiles, sending them astray where they weren't destroyed out of hand. Barely pausing Death Meramon send out his chain in a snaking motion aimed to take out the two shooters, or at least stop them from firing. He only succeeded in the latter.

"When will you learn that I can't be beaten?!"

"I wouldn't be too sure of that," Ryo said, the only one of them who was still standing, "you're sounding a bit winded, we must be doing something right."

"Even if you are, you don't have the power to press your advantage," Death Meramon said, his voice growing more vicious with every word, "your little digimon are down and powerless and let's not even start with you. You will die most painfully here."

"You're not the first to say that to me," Ryo said, "and you won't be the last either. We are doing just fine, aren't we V-dramon?"

"Öh yeah," V-dramon answered, his voice strained by the effort, "I'm fine, just resting a bit."

He managed to give a thumbs-up sign before slumping down in the crater again; Death Meramon looked at him skeptically.

"And as for Sorcerymon," said Ryo, trailing off. To late the perfect noticed where the boy was looking at. More shards of ice came from the air behind Death Meramon, slamming hard into the giant's unprotected back. At the same time a blue energy blast from V-dramon hit him hard in the face, making him stagger.

Snapping out of the daze he glared daggers at the attacking group. Sorcerymon stood protectively in front of V-dramon while the dragon was getting to his feet.

Ryo didn't like what he was seeing, his partner looked like he could devolve at the drop of a hat and Sorcerymon was looking tired as well, not to mention beaten up. Bearmon, standing far behind Death Meramon, was in the best condition but he couldn't hope to beat a Perfect. Even if Death Meramon was looking more and more fatigued as well, almost like he wasn't at full power before the fight began, it would still take more than they had.

_Maybe the cold was affecting him too_, Ryo mused,_or perhaps what's causing the cold_.

"You can't escape me now," the giant boasted, inhaling a considerate amount of air, "Heavy Metal Fire!"

When he exhaled blue flames left his mouth, racing towards Sorcerymon and V-dramon. The sorcerer knew he could easily evade the attack, but V-dramon couldn't so he stayed where he was.

"Barrier!" Sorcerymon chanted, holding his staff vertically in front of him. A transparent semi-sphere with a blue-white hue appeared in front of them a moment before the flames overtook their position. V-dramon breathed nervously as much of the flames hurled past them, what worried him were the flames stopped by the shield. Sorcerymon looked strained, unable to keep the staff motionless. All the fighting had already drained much of his strength and the attack he tried to stop was particularly powerful.

Unable to stop it the barrier was beginning to fade and buckle, getting distorted at one end while getting cracks in another. A moment later the barrier was simply gone, the flames rushing forward to wash over the two digimon.

Ryo cried out for them, seeing them being blown back before the fire blocked his sight. When it was gone two small scorched heaps lay on the ground, twitching. Sorcerymon moved as if broken, trying to get into a crouching position but failing. V-mon, unable to keep up his evolution, simply lied there.

"You're doing just fine," Death Meramon laughed, brandishing his chain, "I'm going to kill your little minions and then, little boy, I'm going to take my time with you. Heat," As he started to say the name of his attack he let the chain spin around in ever widening circles.

"Bomber!" Came the voice of Thundermon from high above. A meteor seemingly made of electricity crashed into Death Meramon's metallic head at high speed, the charge the small adult had collected flowed into the metal of the digimon's head and channeled itself through the chains, many sparks left the chain at the swinging end, others went into the earth by the giant's boots. Momentarily stunned by the blast he was unable to make a counter attack on the small ball till he was already gone.

"Thundermon," Ryo breathed in relieve, immensely glad to see the little troublemaker. He looked around, but he could see none of the others.

"Thunderbolt," Thundermon zoomed through the air, shooting off smaller bolts of energy at Death Meramon. The other retaliated with his chain, but the smaller digimon was already long gone before it could hit. Using his speed Thundermon attacked with his lightning while staying out of harms way.

"Ryo!" Tsukaimon called out, landing on Ryo's head. His beady eyes scanned the scene and especially V-mon, "looks rough."

"Good to see you guys," Ryo said, "but where are the others?"

"They are coming, we just flew ahead."

* * *

The second of the two Meramon they had stumbled on to in the small corridor fell to the floor by Turuiemon's backhanded punch. Going up proved much easier than going down, almost no resistance at all. After a momentary look at his two fiery companions he sprinted on again. He considered for a moment how lucky they had been in all this.

After he and Tsukaimon had escaped through the hidden passage it had brought them to the level right above the prisons, like Blue Meramon had said.

_"So what now? Tsukaimon asked anxiously, looking at the small corridor they were in. All the Meramon should be a few levels down, but you could never be too careful._

_"How should I know?" Turuiemon bit back. There was no way they could ever be able to block the way down; the rocks were just too strong for him._

_"Shit," he exclaimed, slamming his fist hard on the small tiger statue sitting next to the door down. With an audible click the upper head snapped down, closing the open mouth. At the same time a stone slab plummeted from the top of the doorway, sealing it off with a loud bang. The two digimon could only stare in surprise._

* * *

In the confusion caused by the noise Meramon and Blue Meramon had made a run for the secret passage, able to close it before the guards knew it was even there, locking them all in. The question was, for how long? But that could wait, had to wait, till a later time.

Turuiemon almost flew up the stairs, coming to a halt at the top then turning right to run again. Ahead was a light, sunlight.

"It's the top exit, we are close now," Blue Meramon said needlessly, but the rabbit was in no mood to make a comment about it. It felt good to outside again Turuiemon thought, taking a breath of fresh air. Sounds of battle came from the top and the three raced on.

Thundermon was still zooming around this way and there, firing bolts of lightning whenever he could, which was quite often.

"Not doing so well now are you," Thundermon taunted, "You can't attack what you can't catch; I'm just to fast for you."

For a moment Death Meramon just growled, then suddenly gave a slight laugh, his red eyes falling on a scene to his right.

"Then I'll just have to attack your weakness!" He laughed. Before the electric digimon could contemplate what he meant the giant had already started moving. Running towards Ryo and Tsukaimon.

"No!" Sorcerymon croaked, but he was still too weak to act. It was happening so sudden Ryo just stood still, watching the fist approach. It was like his first brush with death all over again, but no victory dragon to stop the blow this time. With blinding speed, even more than Death Meramon's fist Thundermon hurled his own body in the path of the attack. Instead of the boy Thundermon was hit, the impact sending him right into Ryo, knocking them both back, their bodies slid several meters on the slippery ice. Tsukaimon, who had been sitting on Ryo's head only moments earlier fell flat on his face, then had to scramble out of the way of the giant's big feet as Death Meramon regained his balance from hitting the sudden obstruction.

"Ugh," Ryo grunted, feeling light-headed from the hard landing. He tried to move, but found it hard. A tinge of panic started to form in the pit of his stomach, fearing that he had broken something. It was then that another grunt brought his attention to Thundermon. The little digimon proved surprisingly heavy lying on his stomach. Ryo felt relieved, it was only Thundermon's body that was inhibiting his movements. The relief was short-lived however when he noticed the condition his friend was in. Death Meramon had as well and was sauntering over casually.

"Not so tough now are you?" Death Meramon sounded smug, even if it had taken him this long to take care of a few lower level digimon. But he knew the reason his power had been waning lately and though he hadn't found the one responsible he found his current victims to be close enough to settle his need for vengeance, at least for a day or two. After that there were always some Candmon to squash.

"From the look on your face you're still expecting help even now. Well boy, you're just not that lucky," Death Meramon sneered, "there will be no cavalry charging up the hill here."

He laughed, casting Ryo and Thundermon in the shadow of his large body standing over them. Two balls, one of red flames the other of blue, slammed into his lower jaw slapping his mouth shut and sending him staggering.

"Have no fear, the cavalry is here," Turuiemon taunted, running over to them with Meramon and Blue Meramon at his side.

"What took you guys so long?" Ryo asked dryly.

"Hey, just be grateful we're here at all," Turuiemon replied, "you have no idea what we've gone through. It wasn't easy you know."

Ryo just gave him a deadpan look, letting their surroundings and the conditions of the fallen digimon speak for itself.

"Oh, right," said Turuiemon.

"What are you doing out?" the new ruler of the volcano demanded, unable to keep his eyes off his predecessor.

"I grew tired of being inside so I decided to take a breath of fresh air. Though with you here there's no chance at that is there?" Blue Meramon answered, waving a hand in front of his face as if to dispel a nasty smell.

"Still joking around I see," Death Meramon said.

"Don't worry, I'll get serious soon enough," Blue Meramon's kind voice had turned cold, for the first time showing how he really felt about what had happened. There was a menace there that Death Meramon had seldom heard before and never in the cold Perfection. Involuntarily he took a step back.

"For what you've done I'm afraid I can't let you go," Blue Meramon continued, "this is goodbye Death Meramon."

"And I take it you're the one who's going to punish me? Don't remember what happened last time?"

"Last time you took me by surprise and with superior numbers. And besides, you were at full strength back then while now you look at bit worse for wear."

"Maybe, but you forget that you're not at full power either, having spend a lot of time rotting in that cell," Death Meramon countered, still he wasn't looking as sure as before.

"So it will be a more fair fight," Blue Meramon walked closer to Death Meramon.

"Who needs fair?!" Death Meramon exclaimed, using his chain as a whip. Blue Meramon blocked it with his right arm, letting it wrap around it then held it tight. Steam started coming from where the hot blue flames touched the cold ones.

"Cold Flame," said Blue Meramon. The flames on his right arm intensified before leaping onto the chain, snaking their way to the other end. With the chain rapped tight around his body there was no way for Death Meramon to avoid the attack.

"Heavy Metal Fire!" Death Meramon roared in desperation, breathing out his hot flames.

"Ice Phantom!" Blue Meramon countered, ice cold winds were coming from his body, meeting the flames halfway. Both kept it up till the blue flames trailing Death Meramon's chain reached his body, freezing his arm. The outcry of shock and pain could not be stopped and Death Meramon knew he had made a mistake. He couldn't both cry out in pain and keep breathing flames at the same time; one of them had to give. Unfortunately for him it were the flames that stopped. Sharp cold air hit him dead on, freezing more of his body. He tried heating himself up, but somehow it wasn't working fast enough. He started to fall backwards when Blue Meramon suddenly drew in on the chain, lurching the other forward. Thoroughly bereft of balance Blue Meramon charged his opponent, who could not retaliate in time. Every punch froze more of his body till finally he just gave out. With a last grunt he dispersed into data.

* * *

"What is that?" Turuiemon asked. Together with Turuiemon he stood inside the throne room, but all color had been drained from it. Even they were now somehow paler, less colorful. Above the throne was a hole ripped in the fabric of reality.

"It's a hole to another dimension, a very dark dimension. If left opened it will drain the life out of this place and who knows how much more. Maybe even the entire world, eventually," Sorcerymon sat slumped down against the entrance. Outside stood Blue Meramon and Meramon, the latter holding V-mon and Thundermon in his arms.

"How do we close it and how did it get here in the first place?" Ryo mused, "I don't think it was Death Meramon, he seemed to blame us for this."

He stepped closer, the feeling of darkness and despair that permeated the place increased even more. On the other side lay a world of shades of gray and darkness. The most forbidding place Ryo ever had the misfortune of seeing. And somehow he had to close it off.

He felt nauseous and cold, kind of like how he had felt in his nightmare. It wasn't hard to picture a skeletal hand coming out of this darkness to grab him.

"Maybe you shouldn't stand so close?" Turuiemon said.

"Perhaps, you being from another world, can do something about this," Sorcerymon said.

"The digivice, perhaps?" V-mon coughed.

"It's worth a shot," Ryo said, getting right in front of it. He felt miserable, like all his life had been a failure, but he knew that the hole was somehow causing it. That didn't make it any less powerful though.

He brought his digivice up to the hole, but nothing happened. He willed the hole to close, but nothing happened. The failure to close the rift send a wave of hopelessness through him, enough to overwhelm him completely before he knew what was happening. A startled yelp was all he could give before he started to slump down.

"Ryo!" Everyone yelled, Turuiemon moved forward to catch Ryo's fall. In front of their eyes the boy seemed to fade, becoming a shadow of his former self, literally. Inside Ryo was also changing, losing grip of himself as he slipped into darkness. Part of him knew he was dying.

With that realization came anger, swift and blinding, his eyes snapped open though he didn't remember closing them. Turuiemon had barely set a step when Ryo raised himself to his full height, thrusting his digivice in front of the gate. A blue light shot from it and into the world of darkness, keeping the beam up they watched the hole shrinking down on itself till it was completely gone and the light disappeared. With the force drawing all life in gone the colors came back too, but there was still a feeling of evil lingering.

"That was fantastic," Blue Meramon said.

"Thanks," Ryo gasped, it felt like he hadn't breathed in ages, "I just wished I knew what I did."

"Whatever it was, it worked like a charm," Tsukaimon said.

"It nearly got you killed!" V-mon protested, showing plainly his worry, "you have to be more careful!"

"I know V-mon," Ryo answered, "this time it came to close. Now let's go, I can't stomach this place anymore. No offense Blue Meramon."

"None taken, I don't want to be here for a while either."

As Ryo stepped outside he felt the wind, or rather the absence of it. Before there had been a chilly breeze at all times, now there was nothing._With that hole gone, maybe this place can recover_, he thought, the idea that it just might made him happy. But with that happiness came a troubling thought. He had been happy, extremely happy, when he closed the portal. At first there was only rage, but along it came a sense of elation, a happiness that was almost insane. Only that happiness didn't seem his.

* * *

It was hours later when the door re-opened and a relaxed group came out. Leaving the portal of mist small fragments of the fog were drawn with them before dissolving into the air. They could have been back a while ago, but they were invited to a victory celebration and just couldn't refuse. The food and chance to rest had something to do with the decision to stay a bit as well.

"You were right V-mon," Ryo said, "it did react to the digivice."

Getting back had been a bit of a problem at first as no one knew how to bring back the way home. In the end he tried the digivice and unlike the problems of closing a dark gate opening up the way back was extremely easy. Chattering amongst themselves they failed to notice they had an audience or that some mist trailed away in an unnatural direction as if someone else was leaving the portal. Waiting for them were Taichi and Koushiro along with their digimon.

"What took you so long?" Taichi asked.

"Oh, we had dinner," Ryo said.

"Dinner?" The two digimon chorused.

"It was a tough day alright?" V-mon justified.

"And who is this? I don't remember a Meramon coming here?" Koushiro pointed out.

"He's a friend," Ryo answered, "but why are you guys here?"

"That's right, we were waiting here for you because you still have to fight Koushiro," Taichi said, remembering why they were there and not having dinner like everyone else.

* * *

Not long after everyone had left to either fight or watch the match between Ryo and Koushiro, another figure left the shadows to stand in front of the door. He didn't have to wait long before Renamon fazed into view, bowing in front of his master.

"You failed," he said simply, no intonations in his voice.

"I'm sorry master," Renamon answered, looking up in to those cold eyes, "they were luckier than I had imagined. The incompetence of the Meramon didn't help either."

"Excuses. Instead of decreasing the whelp's help you allowed it to grow."

"I'm so sorry master," Renamon said.

"I know. Fortunately there will be other chances and, unlike your day, mine was very productive," the Master permitted himself a slight grin.

"You've found it master?"

"No, not the precise location, but I do know it is situated at the south side of the complex and four floors down. You are going there now and find its exact location, don't return till you do."

"Yes master," Renamon said, fading from view.

The master turned to leave, but stopped to look at the door once more. He knew the explanation everyone had been given about the door; however he also knew that it was only a half-truth, if even that. The door wasn't nearly as miraculous as it had been made to appear, leading only to that decrepit volcano and nowhere else. For that, there were other doors, other portals that were scattered down these basements. Also, their purpose was not limited to need at all; opening the door was enough to open the portal. Since there was almost always someone who needed help it wasn't exactly a lie that Piccolomon told.

"Piccolomon, Piccolomon, telling fairy tales in a poor attempt at hiding the secrets of your home. Afraid it would become a travel center? No matter, they do not need to know. They don't need to know these are gateways to other places in this world and certainly not that some of them lead to places not of this world. Akiyama doesn't need to know that there are pocket-dimensions that are tied inexorably to this one, yet which are not part of the whole. Some of them can be truly dreadful, not at all suited for these 'training purposes' that old puffball has set out. But they are educational in their own right; it would be unfair to deprive that boy of such an interesting experience."

He also remembered the volcano, having been there once to come in contact with Demon. Vamdemon's castle was where he had led Demon enter the Digital World once more, but it was on the volcano that he made contact to make a deal. The old gateway in the castle would have made a two-way portal, which would not have been a smart thing without getting Demon's agreement to the deal first. So he had looked for one of the most out of the way places he could find; only it was too inhabited to use. That's when he had approached Death Meramon, the fool never suspected a thing. The hole to the Dark Realm would have drained the entire place of life, including the Perfection. As it should be, he didn't want any witnesses to his activities. If Ryo was back, that meant the fool was dead. Oh well, even if Ryo still had friends to rely on this day had not been a complete waste. There would be plenty of chances in the morning.     

* * *

**Author's Notes**:

Questions and observations from reviews, I love those.

_One thing that I noticed and found odd though: When they go through the door, it takes them whereever they need to be? That sounds an awful lot like the Room of Requirement from Harry Potter, if you ask me._

Uhm, yes, quite, heh heh. That's not quite what I was going for but now that you mention it, it sounds exactly like it. Oh, the shame. Let's just say that Piccolomon is a closet Harry Potter fan and never, ever, speak of this again.

_And with Bearmon's story--I wonder if Boogeymon will play another part in this_

Bearmon and Boogeymon still have a score to settle, whether that will happen here, well, only time will tell.

_Just one question?__You played the games? If not here's a link with the plot info for them about Ryo and co._

I've played all the games except for D1 Tamers, and of the others I only finished Anode/Cathode tamers. Didn't get far with Tag, Wormmon kind of ruined it for me. I've been playing Brave Tamers off and on for a while, but I haven't finished it yet.

I know that site, it's were I got my information from. But, while I do follow the basics of the games, I also do things differently for the sake of keeping things interesting, for me and the readers. So the info there is only partially useful.

**Next Chapter**:

The second test awaits; the infiltration of a factory to find some missing digimon. The horror of what's there though is something none of them had ever seen. Outside others move to advance their schemes as well. 


	24. Computational Madness

**Chapter 23: Computational madness**

Ryo's log: August 2000, Piccolomon's coliseum, Digiworld.

Our first day in this tournament came to a good end, we aced the first round, both the field test and the fight afterward and, most of all, we saved a community from certain death. But it so easily could have gone differently, Death Meramon nearly killed us and a strange phenomenon nearly killed me after that. That didn't happen, thankfully, but the whole event did leave me a bit worried. What was that strange gate and where did it lead to? Who opened it and why? Questions I don't have the answer too nor do I have the opportunity to find out. A new day already waits and a new challenge along with it.

End log.

* * *

Ryo sat on the end of his bed, all alone in the darkened room. His muscles ached slightly, the activities the day before had been quite intense. It could have been worse though, his physique had improved since coming to the Digital World; otherwise he would feel more than just a little sore.

He looked around him, at the other bed, the chairs, table and walls. The shadows and darkness around him took away most of the details. Young children were often afraid of the dark, imagining monsters in the places they couldn't see. Ryo felt nothing, the absence of light in the small room mattered nothing to him.

It was after all only the absence of light and could be dissipated with a few simple acts. This darkness was nothing like the one he had seen in that other small room yesterday. That was no mere absence of light; it was the complete subjugation of all that was good. And he had beaten it, if just barely. It should have brought a smile to his face, should have boosted his ego, he had defeated what seemed like an entire world of evil.

But had he really? More had happened than what his friends had seen him do, things within himself. There had been rage and anger and why not, that dark gate had nearly succeeded in killing him. But the intensity, that had been strange, it was like there was an entire well of it to draw from. More than he had ever held possible. And with that rage came power and the knowledge to use that power. It was gone now though, both the power and the knowledge, he had no idea what he had done to close that hole. He had felt more then, a different but no less so potent emotion, happiness. It came from the same place as the rage had come from, alternating itself between the two. He had never felt anything so duplicitous, so insane and so wonderful. It had felt so good at the time, but now it made him feel sick.

He had dreamed again last night, not surprisingly he was in the dark world in the dream. Feeling as he had when he had stood in front of its gate. Dark forms tried to take him, but every time they came close he'd hear this maniacal laughter and then blacked out. After that the cycle started again, walking the dark world, finding evil, hearing the laughter and then blacking out again. The part of his mind that wasn't hazed by the dream knew that destruction followed him in his wake.

It wasn't till he had woken up that he realized whose laughter it was that he kept hearing. It was his own.

Suddenly the darkness of the room wasn't so pleasant anymore. He made a move to get off the bed when the door opened and V-mon, still slightly dripping with water, entered the room.

"Don't tell me you took a shower?" Ryo asked.

"There's nothing wrong with taking a shower, it's hygienic you know. You should try it," V-mon said.

"I have," Ryo said dryly, "but unlike you one shower was enough. How many have you taken since we came back from the volcano? Ten? fifteen?"

"But, he drooled on me," V-mon said in a whiney voice. It was incredible, Ryo thought; just when he had thought the lizard couldn't surprise him anymore he did this. V-mon, as V-dramon, had won of course in first round of the tournament. Koushiro wanted to win, seemed very determined, but so was he. Kabuterimon had an advantage; he could fly and attack from a distance. But that was also his weakness. When he had charged his attack, Mega Blaster, V-dramon had struck with his cutter shoot attack. Kabuterimon, who had been under the impression that the only energy attack the dragon had was the V-breath Arrow, an attack with the same charge time as his Mega Blaster, was completely caught off guard. Hitting the insect's buzzing wings had brought him to the ground, where a wrestling match began. During that time Kabuterimon had somehow involuntarily drooled on him, probably when the insect was biting the dragon's arm. His partner had been obsessed with washing himself ever since. Comments from the others about him smelling bad probably hadn't helped much either. Ryo laughed, it felt good.

"That was _yesterday_, you ass," Ryo laughed, "I'm amazed you even got to sleep last night."

"Maybe I did overdo it," V-mon conceded with a smirk, glad to see his partner laughing again. Lately he had taken to brooding moods far too much so this was a very welcome change to him.

_Or maybe I did it just right_, V-mon thought.

"Let's get out of here," Ryo said, "I'm starving."

* * *

Like the day before the common room wasn't empty. He hadn't noticed anyone there when he had passed it to go into the kitchen, but now that he was there to eat he couldn't help but notice its occupant.

"Hi," he said rather awkwardly. They'd met only two days ago, but for the life of him he couldn't remember her name. Must have been all the excitement, he reasoned.

"Sora," she smiled, apparently she already knew what he was thinking.

"Sorry," Ryo returned the smile, taking a seat next to her.

"It's no problem," Sora said, "I heard you've had quite a day yesterday."

"You could say that," Ryo said, "for something that was supposed to be a test in this tournament it was tougher than most of the things I've been through. You've been through one yourself haven't you? What was yours like?"

"Nothing spectacular," she waved off the question, "not like yours anyway. Koushiro wasn't happy you know, he doesn't like being outsmarted."

"It really wasn't that smart. And even so he had almost won," Ryo said, taking a bite from his breakfast while feeling a bit embarrassed. Getting praised by the people he had been admiring for what they did before he got in the Digital World was a strange feeling. A good feeling, he had to admit, but strange. Also, talking so familiarly with people he had only just met wasn't what he was used to, not where he came from. _Perhaps this was one of the good things of this violent world_, he thought, _it brings people closer together._

* * *

"Good morning everyone," Ryo greeted jovially. His friends were already waiting at the entrance to the underground floors of the coliseum. After a few words of greeting they followed Piccolomon down.

"So, what will it be today?" Tsukaimon wondered.

"Hopefully we won't have to climb again," Bearmon said.

"You'll see what's in store for you soon enoughppi," Piccolomon interjected. They walked in silence after that, going down to the level the strange door was on. Surprisingly Piccolomon descended further, prompting Ryo to ask the question that was on everyone's mind.

"Where are we going? Isn't the door right here?"

"Oh, didn't I tell you about thatppi?" Piccolomon said after a moment of silence. If anyone had been in front of him at the time they may have seen a look of worry cross his face. But the pixie digimon led the way and all the others could see was his back.

"Tell us about what?" V-mon was instantly sceptic, in large because of his own dislike of the trainer.

"There are several doors, like the one you used yesterday. Every challenge in the tournament has to be reached through a different door, for a different kind of challengeppi. We are heading to the next one right now," Piccolomon explained.

"Oh, is that so," V-mon said snidely, his own training at this place had been nothing like that.

"Yes," Piccolomon said kindly, choosing to ignore V-mon's displeasure, "that's right. And here we are right now, follow me."

* * *

In a small room, darkened as Ryo's room had been, the Master sipped on a cup of hot tea. Or it had been hot when he had gotten it; the temperature had decreased considerably already.

"Pity, I kind of liked the taste," he said, "but that can easily be remedied. Can't it?"

The last words were directed at the empty spot near the door. The words only had a moment to hang in that empty piece of air, before Renamon materialized there as the Master had known he would. After all this time he could always feel the fox approaching.

"You found it," he stated, not even bothering with asking.

"Yes master," Renamon answered anyway, "it was almost exactly where you said it was."

"Good, that will come in handy soon, but we'll need to do more in order to use it. You will implement the first step tonight."

"Should I go after Akiyama before that?" Renamon asked.

The Master considered the question a moment before answering, "No, Ryo and his lackeys have already moved out, following them today will not be productive. But there is something you can do while we wait for night to fall."

It was all kind of clever of Piccolomon and his superiors really, on the one hand they were training Ryo for the big event a few days away, using him to take care of the one thing they could not. Well, they could if they had been free to do so, but most had not completely woken up from the seal the Dark Master Piemon had placed on them yet. Their influence was minimal and would be for some time to come and by then, it would all be over.

Yes, training Ryo was all the hope they had and using him for that was completely logical. Not logical, yet completely underhanded, was the other way they were using him now. Sending him to areas that had become hot spots, and could evolve into a real threat if left unchecked, was something he had not expected of Piccolomon. Not only would they take out the big threat this way, but also take care of potential future problems. It was brilliant, but also the gigantic weakness in their plot. A weakness he would exploit very soon. They could very well be sending Ryo into a situation he would not be able to handle; maybe even some of companions would lose their lives. But they were expendable and if a few sacrifices had to be made for the greater good, well, that was perfectly fine. The Master chuckled; it was so gratifying when the side of 'good' did things his way, the 'evil' way. Everyone was expendable except for Ryo and he could not be killed so easily, if at all really. And maybe they even hoped something would befall Ryo and with him the other threat. A thought he had been nurturing for a while now too, but acting on it was too much of a risk. No, it was better to let things play out as they did already; after all it was already proceeding beyond his wildest expectations.

"Yes?" Renamon asked, wondering what kind of diabolic scheme his master was hatching now.

"Get me another cup of tea from the kitchen."

* * *

Again the group found themselves in another climate altogether, not the dank cold air of the dungeons or the heat of the blistering sun shining on the coliseum. If anything it was a gentle temperature, like he had felt on File Island when he had met Ken. There he went again, thinking of the boy lying helpless who knows how far away. Ryo took a deep breath to calm himself, these regretful feelings were nothing like him. His visit to the Digital World had changed him; certainly the time after Ken had gotten hurt had made a great impact. He wasn't sure he liked the changes, but nothing he did seemed to keep those doubts away for long.

_"You worry too much Ryo," Ken said, the wind whipping his hair back, "just enjoy the ride, everything will be fine."_

The air entered his lungs after passing through his nose, but he rather wished it hadn't. For while the weather was fine, the smell certainly wasn't. A mixture of oil and other chemicals permeated the air.

"Good Goddramon," Meramon huffed, never having encountered the like. At times at his old volcano home the air had smelled somewhat sulphuric, but even that couldn't compare to this.

It wasn't hard to imagine where it could all be coming from, in some places streams of oil ran down the many small hills that formed the place. Though they couldn't really be called hills, more like heaps of metal and other discarded products.

"A junkyard," was the first thing that came to Ryo's mind as he took in his surroundings. This was a surprise, certainly no one could be living in a place like this, so why were they here?

"If this is a test to see how we can deal with a nasal assault then Piccolomon has another thing coming to him," V-mon protested, having come to the same conclusion as he had.

"Look, over there!" Sorcerymon suddenly said, pointing his staff at a jumble of large building blocks. Ryo was about to ask what the sorcerer meant when the blocks gave a startled yelp and ran off. A memory from File Island hit him; he had seen a digimon like that before at Toy Town.

"After that Toy Agumon," Ryo commanded, hoping the digimon could answer some of their questions. This was not a place he wanted to be in any longer than he had to.

* * *

This was not Toy Agumon's day, he had woken up to find his last food supply gone and just when he was foraging for none-existing valuables in the heaps of junk those strangers had appeared out of nowhere.

They didn't appear to be Seekers, but you never knew. Those things, and the one who sends them, were truly tricky things.

"He went this way," he heard one of his pursuers say, while he ran on twisting paths around the many heaps. If he was fast enough he should be able to reach one of the hiding places, but then there were other directions shouted to the pursuers from above. Above him he could see two specks trying to follow him. Panic surged through him; he couldn't possibly hope to hide with those two following his every move from above. Then he noticed where he was, he had unconsciously run to the Moles, a collection of hills with tunnels through them. That was the chance he needed to escape.

The first one was easily reached, though the large flaming runner had almost gained on him with his powerful strides. Toy Agumon ducked through the opening in the junk, made from large canisters, and was safe. The way was too small for the larger one.

He took a moment to catch his breath, thinking himself safe when suddenly a shape slightly larger than himself grabbed him from behind. He had never screamed so loud before.

* * *

"So you're not going to hurt me?" Toy Agumon asked meekly, still scared out of his wits from being captured.

"No, we just wanted to ask you some questions about where we are," Ryo said, not for the first time. For the past fifteen minutes they had been comforting the nearly comatose digimon. Sitting some distance away were Bearmon and Sorcerymon, mimicking the comforting gestures the others made towards Toy Agumon.

"I've never heard anything like that," Bearmon whispered, holding his ears.

"It was quite loud," Sorcerymon soothed. The little bear was the last of his group that survived Tama City. He had sworn to look after him while they were leading this dangerous life.

"He shouted in my ears," Bearmon wailed, "Yesterday my body got assaulted and today it's my senses. My ears are still ringing, my nose has nearly gone numb and I can just taste the horrible stuff in the air. What are we doing here off all places?"

"Good question, maybe our little screamer can answer that."

Sorcerymon and Bearmon joined the rest sitting with Toy Agumon; the child digimon had calmed down enough to answer their questions.

"Well we were going to ask where we are to anyone we could find," Ryo started, "but after the chase you gave us why don't you tell us why you're so scared first?"

"Uhm, this is Metal Factory," Toy Agumon said, deeming to answer where they were first, not willing to give words to his fears yet, "or at least part of it, the entire complex is quite large."

The others nodded, signalling him to continue.

"I ran because I thought you were out to get me. I thought you were with the Seekers."

"The Seekers?" Turuiemon asked and Toy Agumon nodded.

"Horrible lifeless things that hunt you day and night. When they get you, you are never seen again," it sounded like your typical bogeyman story, but the fear in the Toy Agumon's voice was too strong for it to be just that.

"What do these Seekers look like? Do you know?" Ryo continued to ask.

"Yeah, they look like…" Toy Agumon was suddenly cut off when a lightning fast form jumped into their circle. Before they knew it the artificial dinosaur had been whisked away, while Bearmon and Tsukaimon followed a similar fate a mere second later. It took a moment before they had overcome the shock, as they watched metallic spiders jump from heap to heap, getting away from them.

"After them!" Ryo shouted, worry forming as he considered Toy Agumon's words. Whoever was captured by the Seekers was never seen again.

* * *

Thundermon almost roared, his body filling to the brink with electricity. The shock from the surprise attack had barely even left him, but already he was filled with resolve. His friends would not be kidnapped while he was around. And at the moment he was all they had, the others couldn't follow as easily or as fast as he could. Somehow he had to stop them. The three quadrupeds were moving towards a large building in a clearing devoid of trash. While tailing them he could see that they weren't like any digimon he had ever seen, he wondered if they were even digimon at all. They had a round central body made entirely of metal with a glass dome on top, small lights in a multitude of colours shone inside, blinking at rapid intervals. It had four long metal spider-like legs, each ending in a curved talon. The captive digimon hung under the central body, barely making a move, not a good sign.

"Thunder Bomber!" The ball digimon shouted, catapulting his body into one of the Seekers in mid-jump, blasting it in many pieces that scattered over the rest of the junk. Bearmon landed roughly on the ground, rolling several meters before coming to a stop. With a groan he started to get up, looking around in a daze. The other two seekers hadn't stopped moving at all, unconcerned about the fall of one of their own.

Thundermon swore and went after them, preparing to thunder bomb them again. Behind him Bearmon had seemed to shake off whatever was dulling his senses and ran after Thundermon and the two mechanical monsters. They were a lot faster than he was, but he tried as hard as he could nonetheless.

For the second time the lightning ball struck a seeker, shattering the construct on impact and freeing his captive. This time Tsukaimon hit the ground.

_Two down, one to go_, Thundermon thought, but then he noticed a problem. More Seekers were coming at them from two sides, almost a dozen in all. Now he was faced with a dilemma, he could stay where he was and defend Tsukaimon and Bearmon, who was coming up the hill now, or he could go after the last Seeker to free Toy Agumon.

If he did the former then by the time they were done Toy Agumon would be out of his reach, but if he went after Toy Agumon then Bearmon and Tsukaimon would surely be captured again. The decision was easily made.

"Sorry Toy Agumon, but there are two of my friends here. Thunderbolt!"

The blast blew one of the incoming machines apart. For all their speed they weren't that tough. Tsukaimon stirred at his feet, noticing for the first time the situation he had so violently been swept into. His head felt light, but the sudden rush of adrenaline was already clearing it up. The legged machines were already all around them by the time he had gotten to his feet. One landed were he was, its body coming down to grab him, but this time he was prepared. At the same time it came down he jumped up, using his body and both their momentums to plough straight through it. With the centre cut apart the legs fell in four different directions. Another Seeker took the place of the one that was destroyed, barely giving Tsukaimon the chance to dodge.

"Hey, don't kill the messenger," he quipped, calling out his attack name before slamming his body into the attacker, "Bad Message."

This time it only dented the machine, incapacitating one of its legs, but it still had three more. The purple mammal could do nothing as a still functioning leg kicked him away. The three others that had surrounded him all lunged at him, while the damaged one wobbled on his remaining feet. Tsukaimon cursed his fate, free for only a few seconds and now he was already getting his ass kicked. A few feet away Thundermon was taking down the rest of the Seekers, his electric power running haywire with their systems. But he would be too late to help the smaller digimon. His vision was filled with dull metallic grey when all of a sudden a blue and grey furred form slammed into the metal. The form finished his role with a slide on the ground, the Seeker falling away form them.

"Safe," Bearmon grinned, his blue eyes sparkling. The cub moved around on his feet, looking for all the world like a little boxer.

"Little Bear Justice Fist Stab," Bearmon said, hitting a joint on one of the Seeker's leg. It snapped, making the thing lose its balance. Quickly he kept up the attack, making a stab with his fists and then retreating so the Seeker's two remaining legs couldn't skewer him, those claws looked extremely sharp. There were scratches in some of the metal plates that lay on the heap where the seeker's legs had simply grazed over it. Its body lay helplessly on the ground with its two legs making swipes at him.

"Bad Message," Bearmon heard Tsukaimon say; then the remaining seeker crashed into its mostly incapacitated brother. Their talons ripped each other to shreds in a foolish attempt to defend themselves against the attackers.

"That was pretty good," Thundermon said, impressed by the fighting skills showed by the child digimon. The ground creaked and scraped as he took a few steps toward them, it bugged him how that was the only sound in this place. The atmosphere was like a graveyard and it felt strangely sacrilegious to make so much noise just by walking.

"We made it," Tsukaimon said, but his voice sounded subdued. If there were any more Seekers around he didn't want them alerted of their presence.

"Aren't we missing someone?" Bearmon asked, remembering that a blur had attached itself to Toy Agumon before another did the same to him.

Thundermon looked at the forbidding factory before saying sadly, "Yeah."

* * *

"So they took him in there?" Ryo asked Thundermon. The group had reconvened at a large barbed fence surrounding the factory.

"I think so, that seeker-thing went this way," Thundermon said, "but I lost sight of it when the others attacked."

"Compared to the rest of this place this factory looks pretty active," Meramon observed, seeing clouds of black smoke coming from three huge exhaust pipes.

"The perfect place for those infernal machines," Turuiemon agreed, also looking at the three large towers and the tiny shapes that swarmed over it, Seekers. If they listened carefully they could hear the slight creaking of joints over the breeze of wind that rattled the loose parts of the junkyard, more Seekers were coming their way.

"Let's get inside," Ryo said, then as the sounds of the Seekers increased, "Now!"

"Allow me," Meramon said, making a fist in front of him. Then he concentrated on it, his pupil-less red eyes looking at his own hand intently. Slowly the flames intensified, going from slightly orange, a mixture of his mostly red fire interlaced with yellow flames, to become a blood red. Around his fist the air seemed to shimmer, the intense heat distorting the very air. The others moved back to give Meramon the room to do whatever it was he was doing. His face looked strained, but the result of his efforts became visible when part of the fire of his hand turned blue. Not the cold blue of Blue Meramon but more the intense heat of Death Meramon's flame. Not everything, he wasn't powerful enough to do that just yet. When he could he would probably have reached the power needed to evolve. For their current needs though, this was enough, but he had to hurry, at this temperature his own flames were hurting him badly. Gasping for air and desperately needed oxygen, his power build-up was taking it almost directly from his lungs now and he was starting to feel lightheaded. He broke into a short run, almost blacking out as he could no longer seem to breathe, the flames on his fist, black and red and blue seemed to flicker on and off. He had only one chance and he had to take it now.

"Burning Fist!" He gurgled, unable to form the words correctly. He didn't have to though, his fist flared with power anyway. With all the force he could muster he struck the wall of the factory, falling forward as he did so. A hot pressure wave shot away in the opposite direction, surprising Ryo and the others. They shielded their faces, but it was gone almost as quickly as it had appeared.

When they looked again there was a large hole in the wall and lying on top of the rubble that had resulted from the demolition was Meramon.

"Hey, are you okay?" Tsukaimon asked, fluttering over to the fallen figure and landing in front of his head.

"I wanted to breathe," Meramon said slowly, earning him a questioning look from the smaller digimon, "but then the smell hit me."

"Wow, you forced yourself through re-enforced concrete with a blow of pure strength and heat, I'm impressed," Ryo whistled appreciating, "now lets go before we are noticed."

* * *

But it was already too late for that, the moment they made their entrance the owner of the facility knew they were there. In fact he knew something was happening when he lost the signals of some of his Seekers. Accidents happened, but since consolidating his position he had never lost a squad like that before. He observed them from hidden cameras positioned all over the place and he liked what he saw.

Unlike the remaining digimon in the area these seemed strong, strong enough for his experiments.

"All Seeker and Cypher squadrons in sector D, converge," his dull, but maniacal mechanical voice said over the connection with his machines.

* * *

The group stopped, a sound of scraping metal came from the darkness of the concrete corridor they were in. Water, or some other liquid, dripped from the pipes that ran along the ceiling. Drip, drip, the sound of the falling water alternated with the scraping that was coming ever nearer. A most ominous atmosphere. Meramon, Sorcerymon and Turuiemon moved in front of Ryo and the others, to protect them from what was approaching.

A red light emerged, wobbling as it came closer. Finally the form came close enough for them to recognize it.

"An Agumon?" Ryo whispered, but even as he said it he realized that there was something very wrong with this one. The others had sensed it too, or maybe they had seen the dinosaur more clearly than Ryo had, after all their eyesight was better than his. They kept up their guard, the two fighters in front of him raising their fists while the sorcerer brought his wand to bear.

"Be careful," V-mon nudged Ryo back a bit. The boy could hear that his partner was unsettled, even afraid maybe, by what he had seen. He hid it well, but they had known each other long enough for him to recognize the emotion.

"What's wrong with it?" Ryo asked, the dinosaur seemed to be lurching forward like a drunk. In answer Sorcerymon's staff lit up, a cold blue light shining over the corridor in front of them, forcing the darkness to retreat. For the first time the Agumon came into full view of Ryo and he could see what his companions had already known. It was a monster.

Basically it was like any other Agumon, only his skin was a mat black in a state of decomposition, several parts of his body were already in advanced stages of rigor mortis, something that shouldn't be possible for digimon. His entire right arm was missing, replaced by a metallic prosthesis, a smaller version Mugen Dramon's arm. The red light came from where his left eye was supposed to be; now it was just a targeting device. It obviously needed it, its right eye was still organic but unseeing, glazed over and staring into the distance with a vacant look. It continuously drooled from its open maw, a rotten carcass in and of itself. Thin wires ran from the eyepiece to the arm and from there to other parts of the body, stimulating it to move.

"What could do this to a digimon," Ryo almost retched, fully understanding now why V-mon had been afraid. The others were too, how could they not seeing something like this. And, if it could be done with an Agumon it could probably be done with them as well.

More scraping came from behind them and in front of them, but the sounds at their rear were stronger and that forced the decision.

"Run!" Someone shouted, or maybe they all did, in the chaos that ensued it was hard to tell. As one they stormed forward, but the thing that used to be an Agumon tried to interpose itself between them and a possible escape route.

"Crystal Cloud." Shards of ice shot at the unfortunate creature, burying themselves into its chest then shooting straight through them. Unable to keep his body erect with a gaping hole right in the middle the Agumon fell down, collapsing in on itself, now also unable to stop his attackers from running past him. Still it tried, tried to move, tried to get back up, but it was all in vain. Ryo looked back once, seeing the still struggling form that barely even resembled the kind creature it probably once was. One thing that worried him as greatly as what could have performed such a horror though was that it didn't delete. It continued to suffer.

* * *

Tsukaimon cursed his fate yet again, but he shouldn't have been surprised at this outcome. In fact, he wasn't surprised; he had seen it coming a mile away when they had entered the gloomy plant. It had happened so quickly, unavoidably quickly.

They had all been together at first, running on the same kind of floor, past the same dull concrete walls, under the same leaking pipes. Then they were all over them, near countless Seekers, swarming through the enclosed space. With them came the horrors, slower than the Seekers they quickly disappeared from sight, but still they were relentlessly coming towards them. Some looked even worse than the altered Agumon had, as hard as that seemed to believe.

They came from the front, from the back and from the sides, relentlessly, endlessly. One moment they had been running, the next they were fighting for their lives. They forced an opening in the torrent of metal monsters, the wave of rotting flesh, but it had all been a farce. While they thought they had all escaped they had instead been divided into smaller groups. Each group going down another path at the crossroad, one they didn't even know was there till each had been driven into one of the halls. Now they were hunted throughout the facility with no idea if anyone else was still alive.

For now Tsukaimon only knew that he was still alive and luckily not alone, Sorcerymon and Bearmon were with him. They were moving rapidly down yet another identical hall, behind them the skittering horde followed. This time there would be no escape Tsukaimon thought dejectedly. At his side the sorcerer seemed to reach the same conclusion.

"Keep running," he said, "I'll hold them off here."

"But," Bearmon started to protest, his eyes filled with worry.

"No buts, this is an order," Sorcerymon said simply, asserting his position as resistance leader one more time, "Go. Find the source of this if you can or try to get out of here. Sorry to say this, but you're a liability for me here."

He whipped around in mid-stride, skidding at least a meter forward from the momentum. Though, from his perspective, it was going backwards. Bearmon and Tsukaimon kept going on, knowing the white wizard was right. Against such tides they could do nothing but distract him. Now visible the machines descended upon the comparatively small man like a tidal wave.

* * *

Before Sorcerymon had wheeled himself into battle two other members of their group were already fighting for their lives. Lucky for them the main force had gone after another group, Sorcerymon's group in fact, but they didn't know that.

Several meters, and more than just a few killing machines, separated the two fighters from each other. Most of the time they couldn't even see each other, but they knew the other was there from the sound of each other's struggle even if most of the time the sound of all the Seekers and monstrosities overwhelmed even that.

Turuiemon slashed a seeker with his sharp clawed bracer, a far more effective attack than pounding them with his fists. They were still throbbing from all the punches he had dealt out before resorting to his new tactic. Two legs fell to the ground while the rest of the Seeker was pushed out of the way by the rest of its kind.

"Violent Rock Rabbit!" Turuiemon called out, more to let Thundermon know he was still there than to use an attack. A fist to knock back one seeker, a metallic claw to bisect another, the purple fighter was going all out. His knees were bent, at first to better brace the shocks of the impacting machines, but now he used his stance to launch himself into the air, kicking off against another spider machine to get higher.

The Seekers focused on him seemed to halt, processing the sudden move, before also trying to get higher. Turuiemon sliced a Seeker left and right, somersaulting so he landed feet first on the ceiling. Using the ceiling itself as a springboard he catapulted himself back to the ground, slamming into and through the machines that were following him. At the last moment he twisted his body to land safely back on the ground. His muscles hurt, especially his arms and legs. His breathing came in shallow gasps, his fighting suit was ripped up in many places, but that would regenerate when he had some rest. Pieces of Seekers fell all around him, some laying still, others still struggling to perform their duty. The hall was filled with wreckage, battered and cut and fried to a crisp. Thundermon was also breathing tiredly, but he too had beaten all the attacking machines.

"Ha! That wasn't so tough," Turuiemon said, looking directly into a camera high on the left wall, "I dare you to throw more at me!"

A loud clang from the direction they'd been coming from came in answer to the threat, then another and another. Slowly a huge form lumbered into view, as rotten and degenerated as the altered Agumon. It used to be a Kuwagamon, but at least half his body was metallic now and the other clearly dying off. More sounds came from behind it, the squeaking sound of metal joints. More seekers were on the way.

"Hate to say this boss," Thundermon's voice was deadpanned, "but I really hate it when you say stupid things like that."

"So do I," Turuiemon said, before vaulting into the other direction.

* * *

The third group was having more luck in getting through the facility and for that Ryo was very glad. He, now being the smallest and nimblest of the lot, peeked around a sharp turn in the way. The road was clear, had been for quite a bit after Meramon and V-dramon had blasted their way through some of the plant's inhabitants.

The three moved on again, Ryo leading the way. As they went on the way became lighter till they entered a large hallway, completely lit up by beams of light on the ceiling. There were no wires here. It seemed to go on forever at one end, probably leading to a front entrance. Of more interest was the other side of the hallway, not far from where they were standing was a large round platform. Unlike the rest of the building the circle wasn't grey, but black with another circle of red in the middle. Shabby railings were attached to the ends, except for the front. At the far back was a control console. The floor here was also different, from the start of the platform a red carpet, or it used to anyway, ran along the entire hallway. Most of it was now darkened, or completely worn out, but its purpose was still clear.

"Let's see where this takes us," Ryo said.

They had all barely set foot on the platform when it gave a sudden lurch, then it moved down, taking the three passengers with it. Ryo spurted over to the control panel, but he could do nothing with it.

"I have a bad feeling about this," V-dramon spoke, looking anxiously for a way to stop the elevator from taking them to wherever it was they were going. It was no use though, not even Ryo's furious blows to the old panel gave any result, he didn't even come close to breaking it. The shaft took them down a long way; luckily the entire way was illuminated by dimly glowing lamps at the four major compass points.

With another lurch the moving object came to rest at the bottom of the vertical tunnel, exhausting a surprising amount of steam before all movements ceased. Behind them the control console gave a quiet bleep as it turned on again. Ryo was pretty sure he could use it now to get back up, but now that they were down there they might as well see what it held.

It was huge, that was their first impression. The ground was completely flattened out and covered with huge metal plates, drilled solidly into the ground. As for the ceiling, it could hardly be seen. Bright lights shining down were everywhere, casting what was above in mystery. At the beginning of the chamber were rows upon rows of huge machines, looking like very old computers of the time when one of them would still take up an entire room. Lights blinked on and off, switches turned and tapes rolled, the entire setup made the air buzz.

They carefully made their way forward, leaving the rows of computers after about twenty five meters they stood in an open space with the biggest screen Ryo had ever seen at the far wall, showing images of the multitude of security cameras. Smaller computers and consoles were arranged in front of the screen.

The empty space was formed in a circle with at least a thirty meter radius, no equipment or anything else for that matter stood in it. It was also different from the rest of the floor, again arrayed with a circular shape like the elevator. Unlike that though, this one had a more detailed color scheme, almost like a logo, depicting the image of a large computer chip.

None of them gave it any more attention than a quick glance; the rest of the huge chamber's interior reserved that dubious honor.

What seemed like a huge laser gun, or more like a cannon, easily the size of a bus or a truck, stood to their right. The nozzle pointed towards the entry. Crates, boxes, fuel tanks and power cells were stationed behind it.

But that cannon was nothing compared to what was to their left. A huge spider-like machine stood in front of several vats filled with green liquid. It bore a striking resemblance to the spider digimon Dokugumon, only larger, more angular in shape. It had eight legs, similar in form to those of the Seekers, only ending in three talons that lay on the ground completely, like large toes, instead of balancing themselves on the pointed edge. To keep its weight off the ground it had to. The head had eight sensory eyes, all of them closed. Where there were supposed to be mandibles, poisonous or otherwise, on a normal spider, the machine had twin machineguns fitted there.

Its rear was huge, filled with square lines like it was nothing but a container with hatches. The machine stood completely still, like it was inactive. _Small blessings,_ Ryo reasoned.

Bubbles formed at the bottom of the vats, then immediately bubbled their way upwards, bursting apart at contact with the object that floated in the centre. Or, in the case of the smaller tubes and vats that held nothing, they just went to the top to burst apart there.

It was the objects that held their attention the most. Two of the vats, a large one and a small one, were occupied by digimon, unaltered digimon by the looks of it. The larger one was a dinosaur with a horned, skull-like helmet covering the top of his head, a Greymon.

The other was also a dinosaur, but this one was but a fraction of its cousin's size, it was Toy Agumon. Whether they were still alive or not could not be ascertained from their distance.

"I see you're intrigued by my laboratory," a mechanic voice said from the direction of the view-screen.

* * *

As the tide of relentless machines and altered digimon swarmed closer and closer it became painfully clear to Sorcerymon that against such odds he could not win. At least not against all of them at once, but he had to give his smaller companions a chance to get away.

"Aquarius Fill," a blue light appeared around his staff before a sphere of water formed right in front of him. The oncoming horde looked distorted as he watched through the clear water. He jumped back and then held his staff pointed at the sphere with both hands, closing his eyes.

"Crystal Cloud!" His eyes snapped open, burning with intensity, lunging forward and thrusting the snowflake tip of the staff at the body of water. Shards of ice shot into the sphere, dissolving before they could exit at the other side. The blue color quickly began to fade, turning into a ball of glowing white water. The water burst outward to the oncoming horde by the force of the crystals which got closer and closer to the other side of the sphere as the temperature dropped.

Within moments the water had settled into a solid state, leaving behind a barrier of frozen spikes attached to the ground, walls and ceiling, facing the machines. Only the middle had an opening, giving the sorcerer a way of seeing the enemy and a means to attack them.

Relentlessly the first Seekers flung themselves at the ice, getting impaled on the sharp spikes. He didn't leave it at that though.

"Crystal Cloud," he said again, firing through the opening of his icy bunker, taking out Seekers left and right while they tried to barge their way through. Now it was just a matter of seeing what would give out first, the seemingly endless supply of machines or his ice.

* * *

What had just seemed like part of the equipment at first now moved towards them. A metallic cylindrical digimon, with nasty eyes and a glass dome at the top, Nanomon eyed them as if they were already strapped in his machines. His intent was quite clear.

"Are you the one in charge?" Ryo asked harshly.

"I am. You disapprove?" The machine digimon countered.

"What you did to those digimon is an abomination," V-dramon said.

"So of course we disapprove," Meramon added.

"Of course, but I didn't invite you here for your approval I'll have you know," Nanomon said.

"Invite us?" Ryo questioned.

"Of course, you didn't think you got down here if I had not wanted you to? The others," Nanomon gestured to the large screen where several smaller images suddenly filled the entire monitor. On it they could see their friends, running from or fighting against seemingly insurmountable odds.

"Will be simple additions to my little force. Some of them are strong, excellent research subjects."

"Like what you did to that Agumon?" Meramon sounded furious.

"Agumon? You'll have to be more specific than that, I've had me a few," Nanomon said.

"The one you altered into a cyborg, more dead than alive," Ryo clarified through gritted teeth, amazed that the machine digimon could speak so lightly about doing such horrible things. Mugen Dramon had been like that to he realized; were all machine type digimon like that? He refused to believe that, it painted a too gruesome picture. This one was just a bad seed; to bad most of the digimon he ever saw in positions of power were the bad ones.

Nanomon nodded, "One of my Cyphers and one of my earlier versions. Even now, many subjects later, I'm still working out the kinks on those. They aren't as easy to fabricate as the Seekers, but can be far stronger."

The machine seemed lost in his thoughts about his experiments, but soon shook himself out of it and continued, addressing the boy, "Maybe, if they 'survive' the process, your friends will be among them. Not your little child friends though, to much of a hassle to alter without their code disintegrating during the process and to little pay-off when they are completed. They will be more useful as Seekers."

"You mean the Seekers were digimon too?" Ryo gasped.

"Remarkable things, they only need a fraction of a digimon's code to function. One child can easily power five Seekers," cool as his voice had been during the entire conversation there was now a note of immense pride in it.

"Y-you mean you scattered a digimon's code to make those things?" V-dramon was appalled, such a thing was one of the worst travesties a digimon could commit. The fragmentation of a digimon like that may corrupt the data to such an extent that rebirth would never be possible. He and the others had feared as much for the altered Agumon, but if all the other machines used to be digimon as well it meant this one cybernetic Perfect was truly a murderer of epic proportions.

"If you think you'll get away with this you are sadly mistaken," Ryo's voice was ice, filled with promise of retribution, "you should never have allowed us to come here."

"Save me your threats, you're not the first to make them nor will you be the last," Nanomon laughed, a hollow echoing sound, "but your attitude is the reason I brought you here. You'll be the perfect specimen to test out my newest creation."

Nanomon's hand went to a small control panel on his body, pushing one of the buttons. In response the two digimon in the vats, Greymon and Toy Agumon, started to convulse as if in great pain. Drugged for so long Greymon didn't even wake up before his body fell apart in black particles, glowing slightly red. Toy Agumon met a similar fate; only he did wake up, looking through the glass with fear-filled eyes. Ryo suppressed a choke, unable to stop what happened next. Instead of dispersing to rejoin the Primary Database for reconfiguration the data particles remained where they were.

"Another creation of mine, preserves whatever is put in it," Nanomon boasted. Next the particles were sucked down to the bottom, passing out of the vats by narrow transparent tubes connected to the head of the spider machines. They saw the black mass and green liquid enter the construct. As soon as the data was inside the tubes disconnected with a hiss and the eight sensory eyes opened, sending eight targeting beams across the room.

With what sounded like a tortured wail the machine started to come to life, looking around as if searching for something. It seemed to find what it was looking for when all the lights settled on them.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Nanomon breathed, "And now it's going to use you for target practice in its first live run. You should be touched."

"Preferably not, you sick freak," Ryo shot back. Nanomon didn't like the witticism and with him neither did the arachnid. It came on to them, lurching at first as if getting used to the eight legs then it sped up as if it was born to it. The guns at his front started to whirl, a sure sign that it was about to fire.

"Get away!" V-dramon yelled, diving to one side while Meramon went to the other. Ryo ran back, hearing the machine suddenly unload its arsenal. A thought occurred to Ryo and he acted on it before he even realized what it was. You don't run from bullets, you duck.

* * *

Nanomon watched his new machine's first steps with a pride that befitted a father watching his baby boy taking his first steps. Parents often envisioned their offspring doing great things and he was no different in that respect. What was different was that he foresaw himself achieving greatness through his creation, the first off many more to follow. This was the Seeker design raised to its ultimate level, made of prime material instead the shoddy stuff the lesser versions were made of, as the first victims of his masterpiece were about to find out.

Meramon threw a fireball at the legs from the left, while a blue arrow-shaped blast came from the right. Both dented the machine, but didn't hurt it much. At the two new threats the spider halted its fire at the first target, the boy. He had fallen, but if it was because of the bullets Nanomon couldn't tell. Not that it mattered.

Seeing they couldn't defeat the giant spider that easily, but that the reverse was not true, the two digimon seemed to come up with a way around this. They both kept to an opposite side of it, periodically bombarding it with attacks, to keep it confused as to who was a threat and should be dealt with.

It was a smart thing to do and an oversight in his programming, but that was why he was testing the machine against live specimen, beings that could still come up with surprising tactics like this. He made a quick note of it in his memory, and then ordered the machine to pick Meramon as a target and take care of him first. He would just have to devise a better system when the first test run was completed.

* * *

For a lumbering, encumbered zombie, Kuwagamon still moved quite fast. Coupling that with small squads of Seekers that forced them to fight every few minutes it was impossible to lose it. Worse, they were getting tired, but the hulking giant had no such difficulty.

The two ran into a large room, with no other exit than the door they'd come in with. Outside in the hall the sounds of Seekers and the Kuwagamon increased again.

"What now?" Thundermon asked, looking around the dark chamber, wondering what the faint green glow was all about.

"We do this," Turuiemon said, slamming a fist on some buttons at the door opening. Metal doors slammed shut with a hiss and the lights went on in the room. Now they could clearly see where the green hue came from. The room was filled with glass vats containing a multitude of digimon, all of them in various stages of alteration. There was a Snimon, but his sickle-like arms were removed, replaced by large metallic scythes. He didn't even have a lower body anymore. Some they didn't even recognize at first, till they noticed what looked like only one digimon was actually a few of them put together.

It was a freak show, but these were different from the Agumon and even the Kuwagamon. They were newer, better made if you could call it that. _Whoever was responsible for this is improving_, Turuiemon thought worriedly, able to picture himself in one of those vats, changed beyond recognition. Perhaps a creature part him and part Thundermon would one day skulk around in the dark passageways, not remembering or even worse, remembering what he, they, used to be.

There was a thumping at the door, their pursuers trying to get in. They could fight them; certainly they would have to, when the machines barged in. Perhaps they could even win. But if these others would intervene, then they would certainly be destroyed. Or wish that they had been deleted.

"What now boss?" asked Thundermon, the horror of what he was seeing affecting him as surely as it did the purple rabbit.

"We wipe this place from the face of the Digital World, or die in the attempt," Turuiemon said with conviction, "no mercy and no surrender."

Turuiemon stepped forward resolutely, slamming his metallic claw into the machines in front of him. The door would hold for a while, but when it would break there would be only two beings in the room waiting for them.

* * *

Nanomon nearly cried out in dismay when he saw what was happening in Culmination Chamber 5; two of his subject-to-be's were destroying his latest crop.

"We'll see about this," he said, an undercurrent of tension in his voice. He pushed the activation controls on his panel, but nothing happened. Dismayed he saw that the bolts of electricity had short-circuited the entire system over there, none of the next generation Cyphers would awaken. Now the fun of his test run was completely ruined. Not that there had been much fun to begin with, now that the initial euphoria at the activation of his best work had waned he was not pleased at all. The targets were still standing! It was aggravating for a genius such as him to be caught up in these disappointments. Already he had revised his own mandates on how to handle lab specimen, capture first play later. Vaguely he recalled making such promises to himself before, but that couldn't be. If it was as important a motion like this he would not have forgotten about it. But this was all unimportant; he had more pressing matters to take care of.

* * *

"This thing is tough," V-dramon conceded at last. Giving in to Meramon's point of view when after all they'd bombarded it with it was still moving. The plating proved especially resilient to energy blasts and heat.

Tired of dodging bullets, and even more of the occasional hit, Meramon was now actively trying to stay at the spider's rear at all times. It hurt getting hit, but in a way he was glad it was him getting shot and not V-dramon, his flames took care of some of the brunt. Even so there was only so much he could bear. He moved slower now, his breathing coming in tired gasps. If it wasn't for the Victory Dragon he would have been caught already. And there he went again, slamming into the spider's side to get it of his tail.

"Not so smart though," V-dramon grunted, giving the spider another push while it was still unbalanced. Then he jumped back and crouched as two of the legs made a swing for him. As they passed again on their downswing he suddenly stood up again and grabbed on of the eight appendages, tugging at it to stretch it as far as possible. The machine brought its unnatural strength to bear, pulling V-dramon closer. It didn't have the time to do anything more though, Meramon saw to that. With a burst of speed that made his ribs hurt he was besides V-dramon, slamming his fist into one of the leg's joints, the weak spot of the structure. When he hit it the leg flailed wildly and the dragon almost lost his grip. Meramon hit it again and again though, while the spider tried to turn towards them, dragging V-dramon with him. Then V-dramon fell back, a severed claw firmly in his embrace. He looked shocked, then very pleased.

That didn't last long either though as he came face to face with all red targeting beams and the machine guns beneath. They were already whirling, _oh oh_.

He rolled away just in time to avoid the rain of bullets, getting pulled up to his feet by Meramon before the both of them started running again. Though it lost one of its legs the spider didn't show any sign of losing its mobility.

"This thing is really getting on my nerves," V-dramon grated, getting pulled along by his fiery companion one moment while doing the dragging the next.

"It's trying to get on more things if we're not careful," Meramon replied, risking a glance back to see that the machine wasn't only shooting at them it was rushing at them too. The two ran on, followed by the bullets ricocheting of the ground. When the ammunition had almost overtaken them they jumped, making a not so grandiose landing behind the stations and terminals in front of the vats.

For a moment they just laid there, catching their breaths. No one was shooting at them anymore, probably because the equipment would be damaged if it did, they thought.

They were partially right, the spider machine was indeed restricted in where it could fire, but that didn't mean they were off the hook. While safe from bullet fire, the downside was that they couldn't go anywhere. With its seven legs it reared itself over the control panels, looking down at the two digimon with almost hungry eyes, as if it had been a living creature. Again it aimed the two guns at V-dramon, but this time he was prepared.

"Hammer Punch!" He said, while Meramon copied his movement with a flaming fist. Each struck one of the guns, snapping the metallic head up. Bullets were discharged, but the trajectory was completely off by the impact so the projectiles flew harmlessly over them, crashing in and through the glass canisters. The glass shattered, sending sharp pieces their way in the green liquid that washed out. Again they jumped up and started to run, but the ground was slippery now and the shards of glass made it dangerous to walk on. V-dramon was up first and got away safely, but Meramon was not so fortunate. A razor-sharp claw made a swipe at him as he made the jump over glass infested liquid, connecting with him at his back. Meramon's eyes widened in shock, his mouth opened but no cry came out. The jump, which had seemed to be able to carry him perfectly over the glass, went awry. He fumbled, making a hard landing on his stomach, just outside of the field of glass shards. At least he had that luck, but he still had a large red gash diagonally across his back. He tried to get back up, but halfway a sharp pain flared from the wound through his body, making him drop back to the ground.

"I guess," he said, biting back the pain, "that this is it."

A shadow fell over him and he could hear the whir of tendons and coils.

"Finally," Nanomon said, still standing near the chip-like marking on the floor, his dull voice sounded annoyed and somewhat disappointed. _Probably with the performance of his toy_, V-dramon thought wryly, _didn't expect it to take this long. Well, this fight isn't over yet_.

"It was nice working with you," Meramon said somberly, like he was saying goodbye, "To bad I won't be able to repay you all further for saving my home."

"Oh, shut up," V-dramon grumbled, suddenly standing over Meramon's prone body in the middle of punching the offending machine. The punch made its head move back somewhat, but other than that there was no reaction. Still the dragon didn't lay off with the punches, trying to get the thing's full attention so he could lure it away from Meramon. For a moment it didn't seem to work, then the eyes lit up briefly and all targeting lights started to lock themselves onto him.

This was his chance, but unfortunately it was also the spider's chance. The two front legs were already moving in an arc towards him, ready to bisect him right through the middle. In a split second he realized he couldn't get away in time, large as he was. Another second or two later the decapitating scythes finished their swing. Only instead of cutting up flesh they only cut the air and a residual light. The spider looked left and right, searching for his target, by the time it deemed it fit to look down V-mon was already running off.

"Hey slowpoke, I'm over here," the child digimon taunted, running away again, this time to the centre of the room. Nanomon was there, but so far the cybernetic digimon had done nothing during the fight himself. When he looked back over his shoulder he noticed that he wasn't being fired upon. The guns seemed to be trying, but nothing came out. He ran some more before the implications of this discovery set in and he stopped abruptly, smiling.

"Well, well, well," he said, a smug grin on his face, "out of bullets, hm?"

The machine looked confused, like a child who had just discovered his favorite toy was broken. It kept shaking the guns, but nothing happened.

"Oh for crying out loud," Nanomon said exasperated. V-mon twisted his body to look at Nanomon, making a victorious 'V' sign with his fingers.

Nanomon just ignored him, "use your secondary weapons."

"Secondary?" V-mon's smile dropped from his face faster than he could turn back to look at the machine. It was holding the large abdomen up in the air, all of its compartments open. What must have been hundreds of green projectiles shot from the openings, leaving behind a trail of smoke. Like a swarm of insects they all veered in the air to come directly towards him.

* * *

With a large crash the ice finally gave away under the stress, large chunks clattered on the floor along with damaged Seekers. Sorcerymon watched from a slight distance as the horde, now considerably smaller, came on again. Briefly he had considered making another barrier, but discarded the idea when he saw what was coming down the hall at that moment. Among the Seekers was one of the changed ones, a burly bipedal beast. His right arm was a canon and would be able to shoot right through a barrier of ice.

The spider machines came closer, then stopped, making a passage for the cannon-wielding digimon, a Gorimon. It had no color, his fur being a matted grey and white. Cables naturally ran from his cannon to his chest, but this one's chest had metal plates and circuits. Wires ran to other parts of his body, his partially rotting body. One red pupil looked at him balefully; his other was nothing but a blank lens.

Sorcerymon could only imagine the smell that was bound to be around the gorilla. Thinking him like the others he was taken by surprise when Gorimon rushed at him with a speed that belied his condition. Then he noticed that the gorilla's feet had metal prosthetics, boosting his speed.

Gorimon grunted and suddenly shot a huge blast from his arm-cannon. Sorcerymon dodged to the right, but then two Seekers flung themselves at him. He ducked low and to the left, avoiding the one from the right and the residual energy traces above him. A quick swipe with his staff took care of the second machine.

"They're playing for keeps," Sorcerymon mumbled to himself, but he didn't get any more time than that. Gorimon shot at him again and more Seekers were already approaching. _If I don't do anything soon I'll be overwhelmed_, Sorcerymon thought.

Determined not to meet the same fate as Gorimon he suddenly ran straight at the gorilla, ducking low under a blast of energy.

"Crystal Cloud!" Sorcerymon scowled, Gorimon wasn't showing any discomfort from the attack. Before Sorcerymon knew what was happening his body was wracked with pain and he was flying through the air. _He kicked me_, he thought, right before he landed flat on his back on the ground.

Two grunts were audible, one came from Sorcerymon trying to get up, the other came from Gorimon shooting his cannon.

"Crystal Cloud," Sorcerymon called out, being halfway up, and destroyed the energy coming at him. Leaving himself wide open for two Seekers falling on top of him.

"Bear roll," a blue, grey, shape slammed into one of the Seekers.

"Bad Message," likewise a purple shape launched itself against the other quadruped. Tsukaimon and Bearmon landed on their feet. The cub after finishing some rolls in the air while he came down and the hamster touched down on Sorcerymon's pointy hat. The two Seekers lay on the floor, twitching their legs, but were otherwise motionless.

"Howdy," Tsukaimon chirped, "how've you been?"

"I thought I told you to run," Sorcerymon said, ignoring the extra weight.

"Well we did," Bearmon said, a bit too innocently, "but it turned out to be a circle."

"Yeah, you'd be surprised how easy it is to walk in a circle if you just turn around in a straight corridor," Tsukaimon supplied, grinning widely at Bearmon's blush. It was so easy to embarrass the little bear who really didn't want to disobey Sorcerymon's words.

"Well, I'm thankful for your help," Sorcerymon stood up, nearly knocking Tsukaimon from his head, "but I'll take care of the rest. You'd better start running away again."

With a battle cry that spooked Tsukaimon enough to lose his balance Sorcerymon charged wildly at Gorimon and the remaining Seekers, about a dozen or so. With what was left of Gorimon's mind the gorilla recognized what was going on and got into a battle stance. The programmed responses of the Seekers made them do the same, ready to leap on the attacker when he was clumped down with one target. Sorcerymon's howl reached a crescendo and he made as if to strike Gorimon head on with his staff. Gorimon saw it coming and blocked the incoming strike with a grunt, only it didn't land. One moment the white man had been right in front of him, the next he was not. With a slide on his back Sorcerymon was past the first line of creatures arrayed against him. Flipping to his feet he struck hard with his staff against the cables connected to the gun on Gorimon's arm, then struck his back and two Seekers for good measure.

By the time Gorimon turned he was already running past all the other Seekers and into the gloom of the corridor, leaving all of the others behind. More than half the Seekers pursued at once and after a moment of dull consideration Gorimon followed after them, leaving Tsukaimon and Bearmon behind with three more machines.

"Uhm, we'll be going now," Tsukaimon said when the machines turned to them.

"Bye," said Bearmon over his shoulder, already running in the other direction.

* * *

Things looked bad, again. Meramon was down, recovering his hurt body. Digimon healed fast, but even that remarkable regeneration wouldn't be fast enough in this case. Not with V-mon down as well. The blue lizard was hardly blue anymore; he and a great portion of the floor around him were covered in green goo. Not simply leftover material from where the missiles had struck; the sticky substance _was_ the missiles. It left V-mon unharmed, but also unable to move.

Things looked bad, like they always did, but no cavalry would come charging in this time. There was no way in except for the flyers, but a look on the monitor showed that everyone was already up to their necks in trouble.

Mugen Dramon, Millenniumon, digimon of the highest level, would have had no trouble with the spider automaton. It was a toy, mere target practice, for beings of their stature. And they had fought them and beaten them; well kind of in the case of Mugen Dramon, but the end result is what matters. Everything after Millenniumon seemed to be getting harder and harder, strange if you considered that the chimera was supposed to be one of the ultimate evils.

But Ryo didn't think it strange; he knew exactly what the problem was. The problem was Ken, or at least his absence, limiting V-mon's evolutions to adult level for one. Missing also was the boy's boundless enthusiasm and occasionally good plans.

Now that was all left to him, but he was only one human and certainly no threat to Nanomon or his machines. No one was paying any attention to him, thinking him already out of the game before it had even begun.

To be completely honest that used to infuriate Ryo, being seen as no more than a cheerleader. That was probably why he had always done what he could to make a difference by himself, like when he had broken into an Ultimate's house with no more than a thieving liar at his side.

But right that moment, as he saw the fight between the spider and his friends develop, he didn't mind it as much as he used to. In fact, he kind of liked it. No more getting shot at after that first volley, no running around, no dodging, no hard falls. No high level digimon trying to burn him to a crisp for something he hadn't done, thinking back to the day before.

It was odd, but it kind of remembered him of his early days with Ken, standing on the side while others battled, but doing so on their instructions, on their plans. He grabbed hold of that feeling, knowing that it would eventually pass but wanting to revel in it for a bit longer. For some reason being where he was right now was kind of fun, strange though that thought was and neither Meramon nor V-mon were in a position to agree. Back in those days it wasn't that bad at times to be standing at the sideline, because the tides had at times been turned by plans made by either him, or more frequently than he wanted to admit, by Ken. This time was no different in that respect. He had a plan to turn everything in their favor.

He looked up from where he was to check up on his friends. Meramon was still lying on the ground and so was V-mon. The giant bug was taking its time coming over to finish the job and Nanomon was looking on in silence. With no indication that he'd been noticed yet he looked at the monitor again. In one room Thundermon and Turuiemon had destroyed almost all of the equipment, but there were still altered digimon. No matter how much they cut or blasted them they would not delete. Outside others were trying to get in, the door didn't look like it was going to last long.

Running and shooting through a corridor were Tsukaimon and Bearmon, the two were doing remarkably well even though they met with almost no resistance. It seemed that, like him, they were not considered a major threat. Sorcerymon ran through another passage, doing the best of them all, but the machines didn't tire and he would, soon if not already.

_Good_, Ryo thought, _they've done more than enough. Now it's time for me to make a difference again. I'm not in this world purely for show._

Ryo focused again on what he held before him, sitting in the straps of the neglected machine. The straps, belt and seat kept him securely in place. He thought he had the basic functions down, a joystick for the targeting, floor panels for moving the device along the base and several switches he had already turned. Only one more and it would activate, at least he hoped it would. He ignored the levers for now, unable to make heads or tails out of them.

"Now, let's get this show on the road," Ryo said, pressing the paddles and grabbing the control stick. Nothing happened, then Ryo pushed all the levers in a forward position and the contraption moved.

"Brakes on a thing like this," he muttered, looking through the targeting rectangle and transparent blast shield. Whoever made it had done a good job. He didn't think it was build by Nanomon, it seemed too different in design from his other machines and it didn't seem logical that he would create a weapon that could only be effectively used by a humanoid form.

"What? No, don't touch that!" Nanomon cried out as the barrel of the huge gun wheeled itself towards them. V-mon tried to turn his head to see what was happening, but he couldn't move at all.

"Whatever is happening," he said, his eyes fixed on the spider machine hovering over him, "do it quick!"

"Plug Bomb!" Nanomon threw out a dozen red shark-like bullets that smiled evilly. They all exploded harmlessly against the armored gun, at least for the moment. More hits like that and it would surely be destroyed.

"Well, lets not give him a chance them," Ryo said to himself, aligning the gun with Nanomon, "Fire!"

He pressed the button, but the gun didn't fire. There was an increase in the whirring of the gun, but nothing more. Nanomon threw more of his red missiles and time almost seemed to freeze for the boy in the gunner's chair. His thumb went to the firing button again, but before he could press it the gun discharged. The recoil made the entire device shake and Ryo was suddenly glad he had taken the time to fully strap himself in the seat.

A beam of purple energy cut right through the incoming missiles, wiping them out before they could explode. Nanomon didn't even get a chance to scream before it completely overtook him, cutting right through both him and the floor before it finally ended with an explosion. Luckily it exploded under the ground, shielding the two digimon and human from the worst of the cataclysm. A large cavern with charred walls was all that was left of the earth that was incinerated. But it wasn't stable, cracking up first, the part of the floor with the round marking and much of the surrounding ground collapsed into the created chasm, taking V-mon and the spider machine with. Not much of the secret lair of Nanomon remained when the dust settled.

* * *

V-mon groaned, accidentally allowing some of the goo to dribble in his mouth. He coughed it up violently and spit it out to the side, finding out that he could move his head again but unfortunately the rest of his body was still stuck. Rubble came down, small pebbles landing on his head. A shadow of someone climbing down the pit fell on him and then it was gone, replaced by a face. Sitting on a ledge slightly above and to the right of him was Ryo, looking none the worse for wear.

"V-mon," Ryo said solemnly.

"Ryo," V-mon answered in the same tone.

"You really need a shower," Ryo joked.

"Shut up and get me out of here," V-mon replied testily.

"Can't, I'd get stuck in that disgusting mess as well," Ryo explained, "you'll just have to be patient."

"Be patient? What for? Do I have to wait for this stuff to dissolve on its own?" V-mon was livid.

Ryo nodded, "That or wait for Meramon to recover enough to climb down here and use his heat to get rid of it. Whichever comes first."

"So he's alright?" V-mon asked, "how about the others?"

"They seemed to be doing fine before all the equipment went dead. And if the Seekers are anything like their big brother they'll be completely safe."

"What do you mean?" V-mon asked, following Ryo's line of sight to the wreckage that the killing machine had become.

"The moment Nanomon died it shut down completely. You probably didn't notice while staring at those claws. Oh look, they're completely bent now."

"So we have no choice but to wait," V-mon said dejectedly as some more of the goo splattered on his face. Ignoring the annoying baiting his partner was doing. It was almost everywhere, around him, beneath him, above him. But not for Ryo, he just sat a bit higher than where the sticky substance lay. _How lucky for him_, V-mon thought.

"Exactly," Ryo sat, getting up, "but it shouldn't take to long, after all, don't you digimon heal fast?"

"Not that fast," V-mon muttered, resigning himself to lay there in filth for quite a bit.

"Well, I'll go check up on Meramon and then on the elevator going up. Hopefully it is still working so we can get out of here. Will you be okay on your own?" Ryo asked.

"Yeah, sure. Just go, I'll be fine here. Uncomfortable and nauseous, but fine."

"Just be patient," Ryo said, already ascending the rough walls of the crater," it's all downhill from now. Or maybe I should say it's all up the elevator right now."

V-mon groaned, his partner seemed to be his usual smug self again.

* * *

"So then what happened?" Neo asked. The white haired boy had been listening intently to Ryo's recounting of his day. So were the few other listeners, Taichi, Yamato, Jyou and Koushiro. The six of them were sitting in a circle on the arena floor, enjoying the cool night air and twinkling stars. A small, but bright, campfire sat in the middle of their circle, a loose assortment of drinks and snacks was scattered around it.

After coming back V-mon had suggested they should hold a party to commemorate Ryo's first kill. Not many humans could say they destroyed a perfection level digimon on their own. Even though he did it with a huge energy cannon he was still the one who pulled the trigger. Ryo didn't mind, in fact the thought of having a party was quite enjoyable. Of course they first had to fight another Chosen, Kido Jyou, for the second round. First V-mon wanted to shower though; he was still looking a bit green. Gomamon had seconded the motion instantly, but soon after V-dramon and Ikkakumon had clashed. It was almost unfair, they both had long range attacks but V-dramon could move faster. Ikkakumon could attack more with his harpoon rockets than V-dramon could with his V-breath Arrow. The walrus tried to keep the dragon off balance enough so he wouldn't start to use his other energy attack, but in the end he couldn't win. Jyou and Gomamon took their loss in good spirit, even confiding in them that they really had no desire to win the tournament at all.

"I'd rather swim," Gomamon had said, while Jyou said he really had to study. He had to become a doctor. Meanwhile everyone else had been preparing, getting the other kids to help out.

When it was finally time Ryo was quite surprised that everyone was there, even Piccolomon. They had all come to congratulate Ryo or just to have a good time. Mimi especially wasn't happy about the reason the party was held, though she was still there. Taichi had ushered Ryo and V-mon along, while Neo had given both of them a glass of orange juice.

"Sake is more the drink for a fest," he had said, "but without it we'll just have to make due with this."

For a while everyone had stayed around, but then Taichi had insisted that Hikari turn to bed, it was getting rather late at the time, and then so did Yamato in Takeru's case. The other girls had left with them and so did their digimon, much to V-mon chagrin.

Seeing him trying to impress Tailmon was quite a sight and the source of many laughs from the rest of their little team. Tsukaimon especially was having a field day with V-mon's behavior.

While Tailmon had been around V-mon had been pointedly ignoring the flying hamster, but when she left that changed. Now Tsukaimon was rubbing his head, V-mon's retaliation had been swift and efficient. The activities among the digimon died out after a while, some left for their rooms while others simply sat by the campfire, enjoying each other's company.

"Well it took a while for Meramon to recover enough to move, and by that time Thundermon had already joined us down there. I was right in assuming that the other machines would shut down like the big one after Nanomon's death. He had linked all of them to himself so he could always be in complete control. The altered digimon, his Cyphers, didn't go out like that when Nanomon's control vanished. According to Sorcerymon they killed themselves, as least the ones who still possessed enough sanity and control of their bodies to do so. Most were in to bad a shape however.

So while we were waiting for Meramon they searched for us, helping any of the remaining Cyphers to die and to destroy the immobile Seekers. Thundermon and Turuiemon found us first, but only Thundermon could fly down."

"To bad it didn't do any good," V-mon mumbled, drinking some more of his juice. He looked extremely weary, barely able to keep his eyes open. His words were slurred too.

"The goo channeled electricity, so we still had to wait for Meramon," Ryo explained, eyeing his friend a bit worriedly, "Later he got rid of most of it by heating it up. Then we went up, destroying everything that could be used to make more Seekers and Cyphers, and left."

"So there's nothing left?" Neo queried.

"That's right, we got rid of everything," Sorcerymon confirmed.

"That's good; that stuff is just too dangerous to have lying around somewhere anyone can get to it," Neo said, "but it probably isn't over quite that easily. When Nanomon gets reborn he'll get right back into business most likely."

"At least it will set him back," Ryo said, thinking that the rebirth of digimon wasn't such a good thing in some cases. At the side Taichi made a comment about recurring enemies coming back stronger than ever. There was a general moaning as the name of Vamdemon and Venom Vamdemon came up, no one wanted to talk about that particular digimon at all. Ryo couldn't blame them; Vamdemon had gotten closest to hurting them the most, by attacking their families. Neo, unsurprisingly, had no such reservations and started to talk animatedly about what he heard of the vampire lord.

V-mon meanwhile wasn't thinking much at all, his concentration being used to keep his eyes open. He didn't know what was wrong, sure the day had been action filled and quite painful to tell the truth, but that wasn't a reason to feel this fatigued. It had started about halfway during the party, after he had a couple of drinks. But everyone else had drunk as much as he and all from the same source and while he was deadly tired, they were all fine. Through the haze that seemed to fall in front of his eyes he noticed he was drawing attention, worried attention. If there was one thing he didn't like it was drawing those stares, it made him feel like there was really something wrong. He didn't want pity, ever. When his chin hit his chest he sat up straight with a shock, realizing that he had almost fallen asleep.

"V-mon?" Ryo's voice came from somewhere around him, he wasn't exactly sure, "are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," V-mon said, somehow remembering where Ryo sat to look at him, "but it has been a long day, I think I'm gonna turn in now."

The blue lizard prided himself that his voice didn't shook or slur as not to worry Ryo, but when his view cleared for a moment he had the nasty suspicion that he hadn't been so successful after all.

"Yeah, you're right," Ryo said, as if he hadn't noticed V-mon's weakness at all. He knew that his partner was a particular proud digimon, so he let him keep his dignity.

"It has been a long day; maybe I'll join you soon."

"Take your time," V-mon said, his voice a bit strained as he got up and walked away. Unnoticed, at least by him, Meramon and Turuiemon also got up to leave.

"Leaving already?" Neo asked, dropping out of the Vamdemon discussion, "V-mon's a big boy. I'm sure he doesn't need you two to tuck him in."

"I'm sure he doesn't, but that's not why we're leaving," Turuiemon said, sharing a look with Meramon.

"It has been an excruciating day," Meramon explained, "Resting will help the healing process."

The explanation sounded valid and was, for the most part, probably true. Ryo nodded his approval, now they could accompany V-mon and keep an eye on him without stepping on his delicate ego.

"Well, it's your loss but understandable," Neo said, "good night."

"See you guys tomorrow," Ryo called out after them as the three digimon left the circle of light created by the fire. It was good to have such good friends, he thought. That reminded him though of something that had been bothering him.

"Neo," he said tentatively, "I still haven't met your digimon yet. How is he taking these tests?"

"He's doing quite well, considering the circumstances," Neo answered, "he's still quite shy, but he knows what he's doing."

"So, still shy," Ryo pondered. Wormmon was a bit shy, but that had never stopped him from meeting new people for long. Overriding his shyness was his curiosity and his strong protective nature of Ken; he would never leave his partner alone unless it was absolutely necessary like at their battle against Millenniumon. He really wondered what Neo's partner was like.

"Shy? Just bring him along once and you'll see he'll like it," Taichi spoke up, "Even a big old sourpuss like Jyou likes hanging around with us, isn't that right Jyou."

Jyou nodded sagely, but that changed to an annoyed frown when the words truly sank in, "Hey wait a minute."

* * *

"Are you feeling any better?" Turuiemon asked again, not expecting to get an answer anymore. He had asked that very same question several times now and this time it would be the last. They were already close to the room V-mon and Ryo shared. So when V-mon did answer it came as quite a surprise.

"Yeah I am," V-mon said. Turuiemon and Meramon were glad to hear the words being spoken clearly. Well, not as clearly as before but not as muffled as at the fire either. The rabbit wondered what caused V-mon's condition; his suspicious mind was already coming up with several explanations. One was that V-mon was simply tired from the fighting earlier, but Meramon had been through the same things V-mon had and he was doing fine.

"The walk is helping me clear my mind."

Maybe it wasn't just today; maybe V-mon's condition was the result of his activities the past few weeks. Perhaps he was coming down with something. Illnesses in the Digital World were uncommon, but if one was pushing himself to exhaustion, like V-mon was always pushing himself, even they could be susceptible to sickness. But if it was sickness, why were there no signs of it before? Was V-mon hiding his degenerating condition? Possible, but unlikely, V-mon was no actor.

"You should feel better after you get some rest," Meramon said, rubbing an aching shoulder, "we'll all feel better after a good night sleep."

Turuiemon hoped so, but couldn't shake the feeling that something was very wrong. He had sensed it earlier, practically the moment they got involved here he knew something was off. There were secrets and things didn't add up.

And now V-mon was sick, but was it really sickness? It looked more like he was poisoned or drugged, Turuiemon realized, giving a name to what he was suspecting. But who or what could have done it? That spider machine might have had something to do with it. After all the Seekers had sedated their captives, so why couldn't the same hold true for the larger version? That goo could have held a sedative aside from its adhesive properties. _But no_, Turuiemon shook his head, _that can't be it. Such a slow working agent is useless in battle. Unless it was specifically made to kill anyone who comes in contact with it as a sort of failsafe device?_

That was one thing, but the other explanation was far more frightening and that was that V-mon had been drugged here. Right under the noses of Piccolomon and the Chosen and, as hard as it was to believe, completely unknown to them someone or some thing had gotten to one of their own. Or was it unknown to them, his suspicious nature whispered to him. He didn't like where those thoughts were going, Piccolomon and those children were famous for being on the side of good. They had all done so much to protect the Digital World they should be exempt of any suspicion. And yet…

"You sound paranoid," Meramon commented and Turuiemon realized he had speaking out loud about his assumptions. Stupid, he berated himself, mentally this time.

"Just some idle mumblings of someone who has too much time on his hands," Turuiemon excused himself.

Meramon nodded, "Could be. I guess I have too much time on my hands as well."

"Huh?" Turuiemon remarked. Was Meramon implying what he thought he was implying?

"It's something I've been thinking about since Death Meramon," Meramon confessed, "We came to the summit last and didn't hear him say it himself, but, he blamed Ryo for what had happened because he was human. Why would he do that if it wasn't a Chosen child that was responsible for what happened?"

"A grudge against Chosen in general? That's not unheard of," Turuiemon suggested, but Meramon was already shaking his head.

"Already went down that road with Sorcerymon, but it wasn't right. Death Meramon's anger went beyond a general grudge against them. He was talking specifically about the situation there."

"Sorcerymon?" Turuiemon pondered, "Yeah, he should know. He was there after all and he knows a lot about how people think."

During the time they'd traveled together after the fall of Tama City he had found a deep respect for the sorcerer. It was nice to know that others beside himself were starting to worry about what was going on. Surprising though that Meramon was among them, he had barely been around for a day.

"I wanted to know more about this group," Meramon said as if reading his mind, "and Sorcerymon and Bearmon were kind enough to fill me in. They were also the only ones available."

Turuiemon almost winced, the words weren't said as an accusation, but they were true. He and Thundermon had been sparring for a great deal of the evening with Tsukaimon watching, leaving the rest out of their small threesome. Though they belonged to a greater group now some things didn't change.

"The runt too," mused Turuiemon, "I'll bet he didn't like that at all."

"He didn't," Meramon chuckled, "in fact he was quite distressed over the mere suggestion. But you could see he was silently agreeing with us."

"So, thought of any possible culprits yet?" He said it lightly, in sharp contrast with the seriousness of the situation.

"Several," Meramon said, looking over his shoulder to make sure no one could overhear, "Heck, all of them and more. Being Chosen doesn't mean you can't change affiliations and truly, how much do we know about them except the stories. The same for Piccolomon and the pixie digimon has been acting kind of odd with his doors in this place. And then there's that no one is willing to talk about their tests except for us."

Turuiemon nodded, that came really close to what he was thinking about what was going on. First was that there was someone else around, hiding from everyone and acting from the shadows. Then there were the Chosen. On the one hand it could be someone from the eight that saved the world from demons such as Piemon and on the other there was Neo. An unknown child with an unknown digimon from an unknown part of the Digital World, the continent called Folder, who suddenly showed up on a completely different place than where he belonged. Thirdly there was Piccolomon, the Perfection digimon hosting a Tournament for one of the Digital Gods with the most dangerous tests around. It was almost too much to contemplate where the traitorous element, if there truly was one, lied.

"As interesting as this is," V-mon spoke up, a bit annoyed at being forgotten and made out as a helpless victim to some unknown enemy, "we're here and I'm going to bed."

"Sorry, we'll continue this elsewhere," Meramon said. He and Turuiemon stepped aside so V-mon could enter his room. Inadvertently they had been blocking the door when they'd stopped to talk. They started to bid the blue lizard goodnight when a scrapping noise from further in the hallway came to their attention. A faint ticking sound, like claws tapping, came closer.

A tall silhouette appeared out of the gloom, two wooden swords in his hands, eyes glowing red.

"Good evening," Turuiemon said kindly, stepping in front of V-mon while Meramon did the same, "I don't believe we've met."

The figure said nothing as he approached, but he did raise his swords slightly.

"We've met, in a way," the figure spoke in a low reptilian hiss, "you can call me Yashamon."

"Did _he_ send you?" V-mon demanded, feeling tense. But the sudden rush of adrenaline only made his head spin instead of helping him. Through the haze and headache he recognized those eyes, though he hadn't seen them since Millenniumon's defeat. It seemed that their old adversary, the Master, was still around.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Yashamon chuckled.

"Those eyes," Turuiemon whispered.

"You know him?" Meramon asked.

"No, but I've met his kind once before in a small rural village. Though it was a Shadramon there," Turuiemon replied, making no pretense about getting in a battle stance, "they're bad news."

"Well then, now that introductions are out of the way it's time for _you_ to get out of _my_ way," Yashamon lunged forward, while at the same time Turuiemon did the same. They met each other halfway, wooden swords clashing with metallic claws. Meramon also stepped forward, but in the enclosed space of the hallway he could do very little that wouldn't endanger his friend as well.

"V-mon, evolve…" V-mon said, seeing the two combatants disentangle themselves and then strike again. But instead of becoming V-dramon he nearly became unconscious, slumping to the floor. For better or worse, he'd have to sit this battle out.

Eyes narrowed, muscles tensed, both waiting for the other to move. Yashamon struck first, thrusting his right sword at Turuiemon's face. It left a scratch on his cheek, pain lashed through the rest of his face. It would have been worse if he hadn't sidestepped it at the last second.

Yashamon jerked his arm back; feeling as well as hearing the metallic bracer Turuiemon wore embedding itself in his own armguard. The rabbit pushed into him, trying to use his trapped arm as an advantage. The demon reptile would have none of that and slashed with his free arm, but Turuiemon punched it astray.

"You're pretty good," Yashamon said, as if he wasn't in a life or death struggle. But perhaps the warrior wasn't, Turuiemon thought, perhaps it was only himself that was in real danger. That angered him and he kicked out, aiming for his opponent's knees, instead the kick was intercepted before it could even come close.

Turuiemon cried out in shock as it was he who lost balance, Yashamon's leg hitting his own at the back of the knee. Unable to stop himself he toppled over; while with a quick jerk of his arm Yashamon took the only solid grip Turuiemon had away. Now freed both swords descended on the rabbit and he closed his eyes.

"Catch this!" Yashamon's red eyes looked up just in time to see the fireball a moment before it hit him, sending him flying. When he got back on his feet a mere moment later he saw Meramon standing between him and Turuiemon.

"Forgot about me?" the man of fire taunted.

"As a matter of fact," Yashamon said calmly as if he wasn't just hit by a ball of flames, "I did. Who wouldn't forget an insignificant insect like yourself. I mean, look at you, barely even made a move and you're already looking worse than the bunny. If you had just stayed out of this you might have survived."

The bipedal reptile gave himself a quick look over for anything serious, but none of the scorch marks deserved a second glance. He had suffered worse and even two to one he was still confident about his chances.

"V-mon," a coughing voice said," evolves to _ugh_."

"Don't bother with that," Yashamon commented, "you should be out of it for quite a while longer. The only things between you and me are these two misfits and they won't last long. Don't bother crying for help, there's no one else on this floor but us."

"Who says we need help," Turuiemon snapped.

"I believe it was that groan you made before making that rather bold statement," Yashamon replied slickly.

"Why, you!" Turuiemon screamed in rage, getting back on his feet to charge Yashamon.

"Excellent," Yashamon said, his eyes giving of a red spark. His arms made a quick but complicated pattern before his trust his hands in front of him, "Puppet Master."

Everything, starting with the demon reptile and expanding from there, became the photonegative of their original color to Turuiemon. It came on so suddenly he could hardly breathe. The hallway, previously cloaked in shadows and darkness, was now completely visible to him though all the colors were wrong. He shook his head, but nothing changed. He looked at Yashamon, but the digimon was gone. Strange, because he hadn't noticed the warrior moving. There was movement behind, so he whirled around on his feet. Yashamon was there, standing over Meramon who was slumped against a wall. The swordsman gave him a smug look, his red eyes set in a mat black mask. The sight in front of him made him forget all about the wrongness of his vision. Before Turuiemon could make a move Yashamon had already driven a sword through Meramon, killing him. Turuiemon roared and charged. With Meramon gone he didn't really have a chance left at winning, but he wouldn't just stand by and get slaughtered either.

"Violent Rock Rabbit!" Turuiemon called out and struck out while his enemy made a clumsy retreat. That was what Turuiemon saw, but his view was not supported by the other occupants of the hallway.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Meramon shouted at him, barely able to avoid the sudden attack of his ally. It was like Turuiemon had lost his mind, or that he was possessed. A possibility that rose in merit when Yashamon spoke, "Don't bother with that, he can't hear you anymore."

"What did you do to him?" Meramon demanded, unwilling to strike back but also unable to afford not to. He had to be careful not to hurt Turuiemon, the rabbit wasn't responsible for his actions, that much was certain. On the other hand he also had to be very careful not to get hurt himself; those were some awfully sharp bracers that were brought to bear against him.

"Gave him a new perspective on things," was Yashamon's enigmatic answer, "when his temper disrupted his mental defenses my technique took hold."

So that was it, Meramon thought, even though that knowledge didn't help him much now. Turuiemon came on relentlessly, his eyes clouded by anger. Whatever Yashamon's trick had been it must have been pretty severe to make a usually collected, and downright sneaky fighter, go ballistic like this. Meramon was getting desperate, even now that he was defending himself he was pushed back further down the corridor. V-mon, Meramon saw from the corner of his eye, had moved back along with him. If anyone's mental walls were down it would be him, but taking control of a child instead of an adult digimon was pointless. At least if Yashamon had to choose, otherwise he could take them both.

That meant only one digimon could be taken over with the attack and most likely, because Yashamon hadn't made a move himself since, it also took some amount of concentration. Forgoing his defensive stance Meramon moved inside Turuiemon's swipe, biting back the pain of getting his arm scratched open. As he expected Turuiemon moved back, giving Meramon the moment of freedom he needed.

"Red Flames," Meramon shot a ball of fire at Yashamon, going past Turuiemon's head. It never got a chance to do any damage; barely after it had left Meramon's hand an iron bracer knocked it astray.

"Nice try," Yashamon said without any emotion. Still it was clear he was enjoying this.

Meramon braced himself for whatever Turuiemon was going to do next; his only chance was to wait for an opening. He was sure that by attacking Yashamon he could free Turuiemon, it just had to work that way.

Turuiemon came at him again like a man possessed, slashing himself forward. "Snap out of it Turuiemon!"

Survival instinct kicking in, although he didn't want it to, Meramon made to strike back when suddenly a blue blur rose up behind the rabid rabbit. It hit Turuiemon in the back of his head, sending both the projectile and the target to the ground.

"Red Flames!" Meramon called out, glad and amazed that he had gotten his opening after all. The ball of fire flew away from his outstretched hand, small in comparison to his earlier attempt. That's the downside of not being prepared to strike, but if he was right he wouldn't need that much power. Only a distraction, he hoped.

His face twisted in worry as he watched the ball fly, it was already past Turuiemon who was even now getting back up. At his side lay V-mon, rubbing his head and generally looking miserable. It explained the blue form at least; even weakened the blue lizard wouldn't be denied a place in this fight.

Yashamon's eyes, dulled since taking over Turuiemon flared up at the approaching threat. He raised his arm to block the fire with his own guards, while at the same time the photonegative world Turuiemon saw was dispelled.

"W-what happened?" He shook his head, staring wide-eyed at Meramon, "you're alive?"

"He messed with your mind," said Meramon, motioning his head slightly at Yashamon.

"That bastard," Turuiemon replied, flipping back on his feet. Meramon noticed how much more fluid his movements were now that his mind was clear again. Now, with the two of them, they might actually stand a chance against him now.

"Don't start gloating just yet," Yashamon said, raising both swords above his head, "there's more than one way to string up a rabbit. Gordian Knot!"

Slamming both his swords into the ground up to the hilt Yashamon waited out the effects of his strongest attack, kneeling down. The floor cracked instantly at the two points of impact, a circular wave front progressed outwards, leaving a webbing of crisscrossed blue lines behind. It had barely begun when the sides of the waves reached both walls. Suddenly the energy of the shockwave shot out from the ground in a similar web-like pattern of energy cords, destroying both walls and the rooms that lay on one side. There was no time to worry about the rooms however since the shockwave, now looking like a giant fence of energy, still came right at them.

* * *

Ryo and the others looked up at a part of the inner walls of the coliseum when it suddenly blasted outwards. For a moment no one spoke, this was the last place any of them expected an attack. Even shocked into silence it didn't take them long to realize what section had just exploded.

"V-mon!" Ryo shouted.

"Hikari!" Taichi echoed.

The two boys were the first to get up and run to the damaged living quarters, the others following close behind. Behind them one boy got up leisurely and picked up a bucket of water.

"Guess this party is over," Neo said softly before extinguishing the campfire. Throwing the empty bucket over his shoulder he stepped over the smoldering remains and ran after the others.

* * *

With the wall of energy mere seconds away Meramon made a quick grab for V-mon and placed himself between the smaller digimon and the oncoming threat.

"Turuiemon!" he said.

"I know!" the rabbit replied, slashing the through some of the threads that made up the barrier with his gauntlet. Some of them snapped, leaving a large enough hole behind for Turuiemon to pass through while the shockwave progressed. Still he got hit by the fringes of his created opening and behind him Meramon got scratched even more because of his greater size. For Meramon this was really a day for getting scratched up.

Frowning, Yashamon drew back his swords and the collection of threads and knots dissipated.

"Impressive, you are without a doubt the best opponents I had to date," Yashamon commented, "though that isn't saying much. You have however earned yourselves some reprieve. We'll finish this some other day."

With that he turned around and dashed off.

"Hey, wait a minute," Turuiemon started to follow, but Yashamon was quicker and had a head start. Dejected he turned around and went back to Meramon and V-mon while a pair of dark eyes watched him go from the shadow.

Renamon fingered the dark egg in his hands; again he had failed to kill even one of them. It should have been easy with that lizard drugged, he thought. Then again the plan was that he was supposed to be alone. The fox shrugged, he had still accomplished the most important part of his master's plan regardless of not being able to kill any of them yet. Slipping further into the darkness Renamon disappeared completely.

"Hey, is everyone alright down there?" Hikari asked, looking down through one of the many holes in the ceiling. Close to her a new hole formed when a piece of the ceiling dislodged itself, crashing loudly on the rubble that used to be a clear floor. The extend of the damage became quite clear now that they had the time to take it all in. The rooms were completely demolished, the ground almost caving in to the floor below, the ceiling barely there and moonlight shone in from the holes in the walls. It was a disaster area.

"Uhm, we're fine," Turuiemon answered.

"I can see that," Tailmon said, sticking her head down the new hole.

"Tough guys like us can take care of ourselves," V-mon boasted.

"Really?" Tailmon smirked, "is that why you're still hugging?"

"Hugging?" V-mon questioned, looking genuinely surprised, then noticed that he was held in the arms of Meramon. The man of fire just smiled, as much as he could do with his lips stitched shut.

"_What_ do you think you are doing?" V-mon scowled.

"Protecting you? Keeping you safe in my warm embrace?" Meramon asked innocently.

"More like ruining my chances with Tailmon," V-mon hissed so only Meramon could hear him, wiggling to free himself of the fire digimon's hold. Meramon complied with V-mon's wishes and let him go; only to nearly grab him again as V-mon slumped to the ground. An angry look stopped him though.

"Are you sure you're alright?" asked Tailmon, a note of worry in her voice.

"Yeah, just tired," V-mon said, sitting up against the rubble. Shouts came from further back, Ryo and the other Chosen were arriving on the scene. Before they could reach them and no doubt swarm them with questions, Turuiemon took Meramon aside for a few quick words. Maybe it could have waited, maybe it would have been better if he had just in case anyone could overhear, but he had to get it off his chest.

"What we were talking about earlier," Turuiemon said, his voice a mere whisper, "doesn't seem as farfetched as before."

"I know, but right now there's not a lot we can do," Meramon answered.

"You're right, but we can watch, wait, and be prepared," Turuiemon deliberated, "something is going to go down and I don't think we'll have to wait long for it to happen."

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

**Translation: Japanese to English**:

Nanomon : Datamon

Gorimon : Gorillamon

Vamdemon : Myotismon

Venom Vamdemon : Venom Myotismon

* * *

**Next Chapter: **

In the aftermath of Yashamon's brutal attack the coliseum tightened its security, but otherwise went on as always. On the third day Ryo finds himself lost in a strange jungle, hunted by an ominous presence while in the company of children. Who is this powerful being that made the jungle his home and made the children lost in it so deadly afraid? It is up to Ryo to find out while making sure he and his young charges make it back to the village they came from in one piece.


	25. Crouching Ryo, Hidden Serpent

**Chapter 24**

**Crouching Ryo, Hidden Serpent.**

* * *

Ryo's log: August 2000, Piccolomon's coliseum, Digiworld. 

Our second test took place in a horrible place, made more so the longer we were there. It was a large junkyard, filthy and reeking of stuff rotting there for years. But that wasn't the worst part, no the worst part was that a Nanomon had taken up residence there, creating horrors of living digimon to take over the world. We stopped him, thankfully, but not before he had ruined many a digimon's life.

Then we came back and found out we weren't even safe in Piccolomon's home. Somehow V-mon seemed weak and ill, the reason still unknown, and when he went to his room to sleep he was attacked. Thankfully he wasn't alone at the time; otherwise he might not have made it. So we won there too, but the assailant fled and some of the coliseum is in ruin.

End log.

* * *

For the moment things were pretty quiet, aside from the rustling of leaves in the wind or other movements in the undergrowth of the huge forest. Sitting on a log to catch his breath Ryo held two of his companions close to him. They seemed to appreciate it and with all the things going on he didn't want to risk losing them again. The third member of their little foursome flew around above them, scouting around a bit, before landing on Ryo's head.  
"There seems to be nothing around for now," Tsukaimon said, "but you can't really tell in this place, it's all just too dense." 

"That can't be helped I guess," Ryo sighed, shifting his gaze upward and nearly making Tsukaimon fall from his head. His eyes followed the trunk of a massive tree till it disappeared somewhere high above them. Some of the trees were hundreds of meters high, with trunks coming close to being the size of a house or even larger. Sunlight scarcely made its way to the bottom of the natural skyscrapers, but there was just enough to see by.

"Mr. Ryo, sir?" A squeaky voice came from Ryo's lap, "are we going to be okay?"

"Sure we are," Ryo said, succeeding in putting a reassuring smile on his face when he looked down at the small Poyomon and Poromon.

"Have you ever noticed how we always get separated on these kinds of things?" Tsukaimon voiced.

"Must be fate," Ryo shrugged.

"How can you just say something like that so casually? We're all alone here with who knows what out there," Tsukaimon looked around skittishly.

"Well what do you want me to say then?" Ryo replied, gesturing to the two infant digimon he carried.

"Is big brother scared?" Poyomon asked.

"What! Of course not," Tsukaimon bit back.

"He's just grumpy," Ryo said, "he wants to face what is following us as our winged messenger of death."

"Like hell I-" Tsukaimon started saying when a tremor and crashing sound washed over them. The foursome looked back to where it originated, but could see nothing. Whatever it was, it was still too far away to be seen.

"You are just like the boss sometimes," Tsukaimon squeaked, "I hate that."

Ryo choose to ignore his companion in favour of getting on his feet and bolting in the direction opposite of the sound, his two young charges held securely in his arms. Tsukaimon wasted no time in grabbing a tight hold on the boy's head and hitched along.

"Do you mind not holding on so tight," Ryo winched as Tsukaimon's grip nearly pulled his hair right out.

"I don't mind at all," Tsukaimon replied, "but do you know where you're going?"

"Yeah, I think the village was in this direction."

"You think?"

* * *

Another change in climate greeted the group when they stepped out of the portal, but they hardly noticed it while taking in their surroundings. As far as they could see they were in a huge forest, large not only because of the area it covered but also by the size of the trees. 

They stood on a large wooden platform suspended between the tree tops, one of many more which seemed to form an elevating path to a large city hanging even higher. From their position they could see that many of the platforms the city was build on were actually large branches or conglomerations of branches.

"Wow, that's amazing," Bearmon breathed.

"That's a hassle to climb up to," Turuiemon said dryly.

At Turuiemon's words Ryo felt a yawn coming up he couldn't suppress and it didn't remain unnoticed either.

"You feel alright Ryo?" V-mon asked. After what had happened the night before everyone was a bit on edge concerning each other's health and unexpected fatigues. Though V-mon had made a complete recovery he had come really close to having been deleted, if he had been alone he would have.

Ryo waved off the concern, "I just didn't sleep very well, that's all. It was a pretty hectic night."

What he didn't say was that he had actually gone to sleep rather easily, even in light of the attack on his friends and the destruction of part of the coliseum. During his stay in the digital world he had become familiar with danger and could fall asleep almost anywhere, especially considering how tired he had been.

For some reason, no matter how long he slept, he kept getting more and more tired every day. _Ever since those nightmares started_, he thought.

* * *

Sorcerymon crouched down on the large branch he landed on. The forest around him was far too quiet to be normal which was both a blessing and a curse. It meant at least that the minds he felt were those of his comrades, but it also meant something had to be seriously wrong with the place itself. Huge as it was it should have been a haven for many digimon, but the only ones aside from his friends were the people living in the tree city. The sorcerer could only wonder at what horrors this forest could have in store for them. Then he shook his head a couple of times, taking care not to drop his hat. 

"I'm getting paranoid," he admonished himself; maybe the area was just scarcely populated because of isolation. But after all the things he had seen, especially after meeting Ryo, he found it hard to believe such a simple and innocent reason. Have I changed that much since Tama City? He mentally asked himself, but he already knew the answer. The destruction of the city and the events leading up to it had left a mark on him. No one in their right mind could see such horrors and come out of it without some form of mental baggage.

This wasn't the time for idle musings though; he admonished himself again and jumped to the next branch. The first mind he sensed was close by and by now he was close enough to feel that it was only one mind. Another presence could be felt by him even further on but until he came closer he was unable to discern any separate entities within it.

A few more jumps, each covering at least twenty meters, and he stood on a branch above the mind he was looking for. The rushing of water from the river, known here as Rush Water, was starting to diminish.

He let himself float down to the form of a large red man coughing up water. The flames that usually adorned his body were matted now, the ground below him wet with water that dripped of him. Small trails of vapour came from his body and the water on the ground as his body regained his heat. It was a new sight for Sorcerymon, seeing the man of flame mostly without his fire.

"I wasn't made for swimming," Meramon said.

"So I gathered," Sorcerymon replied, "you think you can move or do you need more time? I feel the presence of the others somewhere over there."

"I think I need more-" Meramon started saying but was interrupted when a loud noise seemed to erupt from the woods Sorcerymon was pointing at. The rushing of water was silenced by the sound of an unearthly growling.

"I can move," Meramon quickly said, getting on his feet.

"Whatever that was," Sorcerymon said, "It's coming closer."

* * *

"So, which way is back to the village?" Ryo asked, looking around the group but eventually settling on Sorcerymon. The group was standing at a gully, a good twenty meters wide and ten deep, sloping down towards the middle. It very much resembled a dry riverbed and probably was. 

Ryo stood at the edge on one side, holding the two young digimon they were looking for in his arms. Tsukaimon hovered above his head, making funny faces at the two youngsters to keep them occupied. At his side stood Sorcerymon, the wizard was looking pensively at the riverbed but shifted his attention towards Ryo after he asked his question. The others had already moved down the slope and stood in the middle of the riverbed. Thundermon, to converse better with Turuiemon, had descended almost to ground level.

"There's a cluster of minds somewhere at the other side of this gully. That should be the village," Sorcerymon answered, then looked down at the two digimon in the boy's arms.

"Is that correct?" The wizard gently asked them. The young digimon stayed silent for a moment, looking at each other uncertainly.

"We don't know," Poyomon said.

"We've never been to Rush Water before," Poromon added.

"Rush Water?" Ryo asked, slowly starting to become aware of a sort of rumbling sound. Before he or anyone else could react a torrent of water crashed through the previously dry bedding, sweeping everyone who was down there with it.

By the time Ryo instinctively drew back from the raging water the others had already been taken far off.

"What the…" Tsukaimon exclaimed, forgetting from shock to keep batting his wings and dropping to the ground.

"Rush Water, a fitting name it seems," Sorcerymon muttered, then snapped out of his momentary shock," Ryo, I can still feel them, we can go after them."

"No," Ryo said thoughtfully, "you'd better go after them and then come back to find us. I want to get these children home as soon as possible; the villagers said it was extremely important."

"I understand," Sorcerymon nodded, "then I'll see you soon."

With that the wizard took off running, following the stream of water.

"Come Tsukaimon, maybe we can find a crossing upstream, or even the source of this rushing phenomenon."

* * *

"Always with the running," Ryo grumbled as he ran through the undergrowth at high speed. Or at least as fast as he could with all the branches and leaves, some of which weren't larger than his hand while others were bigger than he was, that slapped in his face and pummelled his body as he pushed past them. He couldn't even use his hands to push his way through, having to hold on to Poyomon and Poromon as he was running. Tsukaimon couldn't help either, clasping on to Ryo's head for dear life. 

Wood snapped under his feet, leaves crumbled under his tread, one jump and he was over a large root. A root larger than most trees back home he thought momentarily, but microscopic here, in this place.

A wall of green appeared in front of him and though he didn't know what lay ahead, he pushed through head first, like he had done so often on his wild run. Earlier he had said this was the way back to the village, but he wasn't sure anymore. Nor was he so sure now that he had been right in his assessment earlier.

Safe, there was nothing behind the leaves that could hurt him, but every time he was brushing through rashly was playing a dangerous game with fate. At some point there would be something there and he would get hurt. It was then that he realized he shouldn't have been so happy about nothing being behind the leaves as he suddenly noticed a drastic lack of ground.

"Shit," Ryo swore as the four of them went tumbling off a hill.

* * *

"What…was that?" V-mon coughed, dragging himself further away from the water. When it had hit them all, the force had nearly knocked him out cold. Looking to his left he saw Turuiemon lying on the ground not far from him, seemingly as exhausted as he was. Fighting against the current to reach land had been very tough. 

"That…was a whole lot of water," Turuiemon bit back, "what did you think it was."

"Well, excuse me for asking," V-mon said.

"You're excused," Turuiemon replied, getting from lying flat on his stomach to a crouch.

"Is he alright?" V-mon asked. Right next to Turuiemon, still with one of the rabbit's arms resting on his body, was Bearmon.

"I think so; I managed to drag him out so he should be fine," Turuiemon said, looking the cub over to see if he had any injuries.

"Hey guys!" Thundermon called out from the air, moments before landing near to them, "so there you are."

"Seen anyone else?" V-mon asked immediately.

"No, you are the f-" Thundermon started saying when a crashing sound came to their attention and, this time, it wasn't from the river.

"What is it this time?" V-mon said, instantly on his guard. The three conscious digimon moved in front of the fallen Bearmon.

"Whatever it is, this time it won't catch us at unawares," Turuiemon said, getting into a fighting stance.

"Let it come," the rabbit boasted confidently. Then several large forms burst through the trees, sending wooden shrapnel across the small clearing and Turuiemon felt his confidence waver.

* * *

"Is everyone okay?" Ryo asked, rubbing an aching shoulder. Tsukaimon looked up from the two infants who were clinging to him. 

"They seem fine physically, but I think they're scared again," the digimon replied.

"Again? Does that mean it's because of the fall, or…" Ryo's voice trailed off as he turned his head to look up the hill they just rolled off of. He remembered quite clearly that every time the kids got scared the sounds of their thunderous pursuer reared up closer than ever. If they were scared now, that could just mean that fate had caught up with them.

"We're wasting too much time here," Tsukaimon interjected in Ryo's stream of thought, having reached the same conclusion as the boy, "we have to get moving before it is too late."

Ryo gave a short laugh, "It already is too late; can't you feel it? The ground is shaking, there's no way to run anymore."

"We can still try," Tsukaimon pleaded, not liking the blank expression that formed on the human's face.

"I won't run and be struck from behind," Ryo said resolutely, an image of Ken falling down in pain streaked through his mind. For just a moment he had been off guard and the boy he was supposed to protect paid the price. Ken had been struck from behind and that his fault. Never will I be caught from behind again, Ryo swore mentally.

"I won't cower and hide either, hoping the problem will go away," the boy continued. So much power could be found in the world, so many digimon that surpassed him and his own in power and experience. Yet it when it came down to it only two human children and their two partners had to fight against such a thing as Millenniumon. Where was all that power then?

_If anything, it's this world's fault for bringing someone as young as Ken here, young people such as us_, Ryo remembered Neo telling him. A world that made children fight for them, get hurt for them or die for them. What were the odds of them winning? Slim, if none-existent, just as their chances for surviving at all.

Ryo knew he would have been dead long before this if it hadn't been for the few friends that did try to help, like V-mon. But V-mon wasn't here right now and he couldn't evolve Tsukaimon or the kids. If anything he would have rather kept them out of harm's way, but like with Ken that had proven to be impossible.

"If you want to make a run for it, go now," Ryo said, "but if death comes for me I will look it in the eye before I go. I'm not the kid that cowered for Kuwagamon anymore."

"Ryo?" Tsukaimon breathed, entranced by the image of human boy standing his ground. His jaw, set, a cocky smile on his lips and his eyes locked on the wild growth up the hill his very pose was confident and relaxed. For a moment Tsukaimon could believe the talk of this boy facing down a god. But, was it bravery that drove him, or madness? That he could not figure out, not even if he had the time to do so.

The shaking had increased many times and everything seemed to sway all over the place. That was right before several large serpentine heads shot out from the forest on top of the small hill.

Maybe I should have run after all? Ryo thought to himself, but that wouldn't have saved him from the large hydra. Unlike what Ryo had initially thought all heads were connected to a single body. The central head, and the only one that didn't seem to be mechanical, slowly lowered itself to them.

Even if V-mon was here, Ryo reasoned, they would not have been able to win without the others. The others, given by the direction this beast had come from they surely had already faced it and presumably lost, eaten perhaps. Now it was their turn. With death in sight the boy prepared his final words.

"Lord Orochimon!" The two small charges chattered happily all of a sudden and came out of hiding and Ryo's words died on his tongue.

"Huh?" He exclaimed.

"Ah little ones, are you alright?" The dark dragon said, trying to keep his voice restrained but still sounding quite loud. There was also an odd slur, very vague though, to his pronunciations making Ryo wonder if it was an accent or something else. He got his answer though when the dragon's exhaled breath washed over them, the smell of alcohol being unavoidable.

"Who are you?" Ryo asked briskly, his face contorting slightly from the nauseous smell.

"You don't know? I'm Lord Orochimon, ruler and protector of this magnificent forest," Orochimon answered, sounding quite proud, "And thank you for looking after the children; they get frightened by the dark so easily."

"Afraid of the dark?" Tsukaimon exclaimed, turning to the two small digimon, "you mean to say that every time we heard the big guy you weren't actually afraid of him?"

Poromon nodded, "The ground would shake and the darkness would move."

So that was it, Ryo thought, the rumbling of Orochimon's movements would make the trees and leaves move, which in turn made their shadows move. That meant the entire chase was completely useless.

"Somehow I feel cheated," Ryo muttered dryly.

"Shut up, don't tempt fate," Tsukaimon admonished.

"Orochimon, we lost some friends to the river a while back, have you seem them?" Ryo asked instead, ignoring Tsukaimon.

"Ah yes, they were quite energetic like you. I directed them back to the city; they should be there by now. I'll take you there; you won't want to miss the festival."

"Yeah, that would be nice since we seem to be lost a bit," Ryo said thoughtfully, "speaking of the city, everyone was in a right state of panic because these two were missing down in the forest and were hinting at how scary this place is. That wouldn't be because…?"

"Everyone's afraid of the dark," Orochimon supplied.

"Figures," Tsukaimon said, getting on Orochimon's head with the others, "Say, what's this festival you mentioned?"

"The Weekly Tribute," Orochimon said happily, his other heads nodding fervently, "to honour our protection agreement the villagers make an offering of delicious sake. Want some?"

"I think I'll respectfully decline," Ryo answered.

* * *

Back in the basement of the D1 coliseum a portal door slammed open and an irate looking boy stormed out with a small following of digimon tailing close, but not too close, behind. 

Taichi, who was looking around the coliseum ground in boredom, was the first to notice Ryo's return and the rather dirty state he seemed to be in from his tumble through the forest.

"Hey Ryo, how did it go?" He asked when the other kid stormed past, muttering something about drunks and babysitters.

"What's with him?" Taichi asked.

"Don't ask, he's having a bad day," Tsukaimon answered.

Ignoring all other Chosen Ryo soon reached the solitude of his room. He was feeling angry, irritated, over something that was nothing more than a bad joke. There had been no real danger, unlike the other times, and he had gotten back earlier than before too.

He slumped down on his bed, gripping his head as a wave of fatigue washed over him. That was why he was so angry; he had wasted a lot of energy running around for absolutely nothing at a time when he had no energy to waste.

"What's wrong with me?" He muttered before closing his eyes.

* * *

"I'm telling you I'm fine," Ryo said animatedly, "I was just a bit annoyed by today's events." 

"That was more than just a bit annoyed I think," V-mon reasoned, "You brushed off that festival, Taichi, us, and disappeared to your room for three hours."

"Look, you weren't the one being chased down a giant forest almost blindly because some kids were scared of the dark. I was just lucky that last hill wasn't all that steep."

"True," V-mon acknowledged, "but you weren't the one hit by a wall of water, getting swept along with it and nearly drowned."

"Oh yeah, that also happened."

"Don't sound so surprised," V-mon grumbled.

Slowly and seemingly at ease the two entered the main fighting arena, ready to take on the challenge so they could take the rest of the day off. Ryo was surprised to note that one of the girls was his current opponent and especially this one; she hadn't seemed like much of a fighter. From what he heard from the other Chosen she was pretty much a pacifist.

"Hey, Ryo-chan!" the girl in pink called out cheerfully, "so you're my opponent. Looks like you've really been hanging in there pretty well. I'm sorry though, you can't just win a girl's heart with strength alone."

She laughed to herself sweetly, before striking a confident pose, one arm stretched forward to point at the boy, "I'll teach you what that means, or maybe make you feel it!"

Caught at unawares by the girl's battle declaration, which could put that of any Magical Girl to shame, Ryo was unsure how to respond.

V-mon, looking at his partner's slightly reddening cheeks for a moment, had no such inhibitions.

"We'll take that challenge," V-mon said confidently, striking a pose of his own, "and show you why we're number one in this Tournament and beyond!"

"Oh, this looks like fun," Palmon smiled, thoroughly amused by the exchange.

"Ryo, focus and let's do this," the blue lizard muttered back. Ryo nodded and brought forth his digivice, an action that was mirrored, though with far more flourish, by Mimi.

"Let's make this a quick one V-mon," Ryo said.

"Palmon, let's show them what us girls can do!" Mimi said.

"V-mon, evolves to V-dramon!" Within moments the small lizard had grown into a dragon.

At the other side of the battleground a similar light had enveloped and changed the small plant, "Palmon evolves to Togemon!"

"Well, aren't you a big girl," V-dramon said, the words leaving his lips before he knew it.

"What did you call me?" the cactus digimon yelled back, "Prickly Bang Bang!"

Flexing her muscles Togemon unleashed a rain of her needles at V-dramon, the projectiles covering the distance between them in moments. With an agility that belied his frame the dragon jumped aside to avoid a hit. Landing in a crouch, he prepared his own counter, "Cutter Shoot!"

Just like the needles only moments earlier a new wave of projectiles shot across the field. Togemon though made no move to get out of the way, instead opting to let the energy blast clash against her red boxing gloves. Fizzling harmlessly, though they did blacken the material, the attack was negated.

Now, with a speed that belied _her_ frame, Togemon charged forward to bring the fight to the dragon.

"V-breath Arrow," V-dramon called out, charging forward after the arrow of blue energy. Instead of just blocking the energy attack like she had done before, she hit the side of the arrow with a mean left hook right before it could hit her, sending it astray.

Not daunted by this V-dramon finished his charge and, ducking under Togemon's fists, slammed his head into her stomach.

"Ow, needles," V-dramon muttered.

"You've got some nerve hitting a lady," Togemon huffed, gripping both of V-dramon's hands.

"Maybe if you acted more like one I wouldn't have," V-dramon replied, pushing back against the vice on his arms.

"So much for tact," Ryo muttered from the sidelines.

"You brute," Togemon yelled and, with a sudden burst of strength, she threw the dragon over her head.

Twisting in the air V-dramon landed on all fours, sliding back a bit before digging his claws into the ground to stop his backward movement.

"Shouldn't have let me go! V-breath Arrow."

"Shouldn't underestimate me either," Togemon replied, again punching the offending projecting out of the way. Getting back into V-dramon's face she started to unleash a flurry of punches, driving him back as he kept dodging.

At the sides Ryo narrowed his eyes at the scene, trying to remember the last time his partner was driven into such difficulties by an adult level digimon. Mimi and Palmon were a lot tougher than they appeared to be. Across from him Mimi was cheering her partner on, but Ryo kept silent. With his partner on the defensive and even that barely, he had to be the brains of the operation, he had to find out what to do next.

He smiled, whether or not Togemon knew, she had fallen into a pattern while attacking.

"V-dramon, on three!" Ryo called out.

Mimi looked surprised, "Huh? On three what?"

"Gotcha," V-dramon smirked, dodging two of Togemon's punches. When the third one came it did so just like she had done before. Knowing what to expect he ducked past it and again slammed into her stomach.

After that V-dramon did everything he could to keep his advantage, though the hits he suffered were still a lot regardless. Finally though the Victory dragon was able to slam Togemon on her back where she devolved back into Palmon. By that time the dragon was panting for air. When Palmon stayed down, signalling the end of the fight, he gladly devolved as well.

"Aw, I lost, Ryo-chan. You put a lot of thought into this fight," Mimi said, still as cheerful as before as if she hadn't lost at all.

"Looks like you're a little cooler than I expected. When this tournament is over, let's go on a date okay?"

"Uh," Ryo stammered, unsure of how to respond to that. Mimi just looked at him expectantly, while he could only stare.

"Well done Ryoppi," Piccolomon said, seemingly coming out of nowhere.

"Uh, yeah, thanks," Ryo answered, then let himself be ushered elsewhere by the host of the Tournament.

"Spoilsport," Mimi grinned in the background.

* * *

At the end of the day Ryo found himself sitting on the top bleachers of the coliseum, looking at the moon and stars. The nights were very clear here and, high atop the arena, he could be alone without raising suspicion. He really hadn't intended to fall asleep for three hours on his bed earlier. 

Footsteps to his side alerted him to a presence approaching him and he wondered if it was the mysterious attacker from last night. That would have been bad, but when he looked it was only Neo.

"So this is where you snuck off to," Neo commented, "I can understand why, the view is pretty good up here."

Without asking Neo sat himself down next to the other boy.

"It is, I rarely get a chance to look at a night sky like this," Ryo confirmed.

At that Neo showed one of his easy smiles, "Sounds good, but that's not really why you're here is it? I've got you figured out you know."

"What do you mean?" Ryo asked in surprise.

"Have you been sleeping well?" Neo asked instead, catching Ryo by surprise again.

"W-what?" Ryo stammered.

"Your behaviour, let's say that I'm quite familiar with it, keeping up a mask to the outside world to shield your inner turmoil and, if I'm not mistaken, fatigue. You disappeared for three hours to your room, there's not much to do there. So I'll ask again, have you been sleeping well?"

"Well, not really," Ryo admitted, asking himself why he was telling Neo this when he hadn't even mentioned it once to V-mon. But maybe that was the reason, Neo was pretty much an outsider to his team and he didn't want to worry them. It might be good to talk about it to someone he reasoned.

"Lately I've been having a lot of nightmares, they leave me pretty drained."

"Nightmares," Neo said thoughtfully, "could be a way of your unconscious mind to express itself, make you face something you don't want to face."

"Guilt perhaps," Neo concluded.

"Guilt?" Ryo asked.

"Didn't you tell me of your friend?"

"Yeah, I did," Ryo said, "I guess I do feel bad about what happened and that I can't be with him now."

"Do you know how he's doing?" Neo questioned.

Ryo shook his head, "Nope, haven't heard anything about him since I left. I keep thinking that no news is good news and that Gennai would somehow let me know if his condition has changed."

"But there's no substitute to actually being there," Neo said, sounding wistful.

"Right," Ryo said, wondering what brought on the change of mood in his companion. The white haired boy was leaning back on his seat, looking up at the night sky. Looking away from him Ryo also turned back to look at the stars.

"You said you were familiar with how I feel," Ryo said after a while, breaking the silence between them, "what did you mean by that?"

The moment the words left his mouth Ryo remembered a conversation he had with Neo on the first day he had arrived at the coliseum.

"Is it because of your sister?" He added.

Slowly Neo looked over, seemingly quite pleased, "You remembered. I was afraid you had forgotten our talk, like you had forgotten a certain someone's name."

"Y-you say that?" Ryo asked, turning slightly red.

Neo nodded, "I felt it prudent not to interfere, since you and Sora seemed to be having a good talk. Don't worry, I haven't told anyone about your little slip, though I can't say the same for her."

"You're trying to change the subject aren't you?" Ryo said, refusing to fall for the bait.

"Seems you're pretty much awake now," Neo mused, "alright, I'll tell you something more about what happened to her."

* * *

"Neo," a cheerful red-headed girl said in a whiney tone, "come on, what's taking you so long, hurry up." 

Unlike her older brother, who was walking leisurely on the sidewalk with his hands in his pockets, Rei was darting to and fro around him. It was hard to imagine they were only a year apart from her excessive behaviour.

"Take it easy, we're in no hurry," Neo admonished gently, unable to remain annoyed even a moment with his sister, "I really wished you'd take the time to just _sit_ you know, instead of dragging me around town for some fool's errant."

Rei stuck up her nose and marched on in front of her brother along the street, ignoring the displays of the shops on their side of the street and pretty much everything else for that matter. Aware of his sister's stubborn traits Neo sighed and followed in silence. Rei, pacifist through and through, was also as unmovable as a mountain when she had put her mind to something. And right now that mind had set itself to meeting up with their small group of friends.

"Hold up a moment," Neo said suddenly, stopping in front of a game store, wondering if anything new had come out that could catch his interest. His eyes fell on the new craze, a small handheld device that, in itself, was fairly unremarkable. You could raise a monster in it that would change or grow differently depending on how the user played. When connected with another one the two monsters could be pitted against each other. He had one himself, but had quickly become disillusioned with it. While it had some good properties it lacked the tactical depth he preferred. If there had been more monsters in one battle however, instead of one versus one, it would have been a lot more interesting.

"Hey Rei! Look at this!" Neo heard a voice shout from across the street. A voice he recognized as belonging to their friend Hideto. Unlike him the other boy had become quite addicted to the small pocket monster, an interest that was shared with his sister. The differences between the two boys didn't stop at their interests either, outwardly they appeared to be each other's polar opposite. Where Neo had white hair, Hideto's was matt black; Neo's eyes were a light blue while Hideto sported brown ones. Their physical traits also seemed to influence their clothing, as Neo preferred light tones to the other's black ones. Regardless of their differences they were good friends.

Unconcerned Neo looked over to Hideto, standing across the street, waving his handheld around excitedly. The boy's excitement seemed catchy and caught up in the moment and curiosity Rei started crossing the street without looking at the traffic. He'd have to scold her about that later, Neo reasoned.

The thought froze in his head when a gust of wind, generated by the car that sped past, washed over him. There was a loud sound, the honk of the car, followed by the screeching of tires. The startled girl had but a moment to process what was happening, looking at the car with wide eyes filled with fear before it crashed into her but a second later. The vehicle hit her legs first, lifting her up over the hood and against the windshield. The impact made the glass break, but the helpless girl didn't go through it; instead she was launched again, this time rolling over and off the roof of the car like a broken doll. At the end of the car she fell, but remarkably she was still conscious as she instinctively tried to shelter her head when she hit the ground. There she continued to lay unmoving.

The car started to slip and go out of control before coming to a halt many meters further, but Neo was no longer aware of anything else that was happening. All he could see was his younger sister lying on the cold hard road as a pool of red liquid seemed to form around her.

"Rei!" He screamed, clumsily stumbling over to the girl.

* * *

"Luckily an ambulance was quick to arrive on the scene and she didn't die, though she certainly came very close," Neo said, his voice sounding odd with unresolved emotions, "But the accident damaged her spine, paralyzing her from the waist down. The doctors say she'll never recover, confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life." 

When Neo fell silent Ryo didn't know what to say, but tried anyway.

Neo cut him off though, sounding detached from the world, "It's horrible, isn't it? That something like that should happen to someone so innocent and full of life. Humans are so very frail, so easy to snap like a twig."

Ryo stayed silent, it was all he could do in the face of Neo's melancholic behaviour. But just as soon as it had began the blue-eyed boy returned to normal.

"But enough about my sad life," Neo said, "I came here to cheer you up a bit, not drown you in my own issues."

"It's really no problem if you do," Ryo said, but the other would have none of it. Changing the subject to some more mundane ones, at least mundane in the Digital World, Neo stayed around quite a while to converse with Ryo. Eventually, with the passing of the night, the other boy finally got up to leave.

"It's getting rather late," Neo surmised, to which Ryo nodded, "I suggest you turn in soon, that's what I'm going to do at any rate."

Ryo stifled a yawn, acutely aware again of his own fatigue.

"I will, don't want to be tired if I have to run again tomorrow."

At that Neo smiled, "Seems like all we do around here involves running somehow. I do hope you're feeling somewhat better now."

Now it was Ryo's turn to show a smile, "Yeah, I am, thanks."

"Don't mention it, that's what friends do," Neo replied, walking of to find the nearest entrance back into the coliseum, hands in his pockets. Ryo watched him take a few steps, when he momentarily came to a halt, his back still turned to Ryo.

"I wonder how Wormmon feels though," Neo said.

"Wormmon?" Ryo whispered.

"Maybe you should talk to him too sometimes; he's in the same situation as you after all. He too relaxed his guard for a moment, thinking his most precious person to be safe, only to lose him because their trusted friend drew his attention, putting him in the line of danger."

Ryo's brow furrowed, unsure of how to respond he stayed quiet.

"Oh well, this tournament will be over soon and you can go see them. I'm sure Ken will do a whole lot better by then. For now though good night and don't let the bed bugs bite."

With a wave Neo left the stands, leaving behind a boy deep in thought. Ryo's mind felt conflicted by his friend's words. At first he had indeed felt a kindred spirit in the white-haired boy's story, someone who had been in the exact same position he had been. Someone who knew firsthand, the kind of pain and guilt, he was feeling.

But, was he really like Neo, or was his role something else? Could it be that he was really Hideto, the one whose actions put an innocent in danger. Wasn't it he who had taken Ken with him to that final battlefield, wasn't it all his fault the boy got hurt?

"I didn't take him into this world, but I did take him there," Ryo concluded sadly, "I called him over, away from the safe street and into the path of a truck, one with my name on it. It really is my fault after all, isn't it? Do you blame me too, Wormmon?"

Rei's fate also showed him that, though Ken was alive, he might not fully recover. He'd voiced this to Gennai once, but the old sage had tried to assure him that the downed boy showed no signs of any debilitation. Of course the old man also professed to have no idea what was happening to Ken or when he would awaken, so Ryo wasn't assured at all.

Ryo sighed and got up from his seat to leave, the place had become a bit too cold all of a sudden. From a distance two cold eyes watched him leave, pleased at what he had seen. The impromptu visitation of a fellow Chosen, a friend, had only made the boy feel worse instead of better. And that was exactly what he wanted to see. From what he knew now of Ryo's day it was obvious that Piccolomon had deliberately send him to a place that wasn't experiencing any problems unlike the last two times. Perhaps the puffball had started to feel guilty about sending the boy off to do dangerous tasks on false pretences.

Seeing no reason to stay around now that the stands had completely emptied the shadow detached itself from his place at a wall and made his own decent from the top. Gliding unnoticed through the empty grounds the figure soon found his way to a deserted outcropping of trees near the coliseum. Deserted only from outside appearances, for within the confines of rare green a different story was told.

"Master," Renamon bowed when the figure had joined him in the natural hideout.

"These are the ones?"

"Yes Master," Renamon replied, giving the other digimon around a quick look each, "this is the squad I'll be leading, if the plan hasn't changed."

"It hasn't, you'll start the operation tomorrow morning as planned. Then we'll see how well prepared Piccolomon really is and how much our 'prodigy' can take."

**

* * *

**

**Author's Notes:**

Not surprisingly it took another long time for a new chapter to come out, but I've been extremely busy with all kinds of stuff the last few months and didn't have any time to write on this. And every time I did find myself with a window of opportunity I couldn't focus enough to write anything halfway decent.

**

* * *

**

**Next Chapter:**

The peace of the coliseum, already shaky after the assassin Yashamon made his attack, gets shaken up further. On his fourth test, rigged by the Master, Ryo learns the hard lesson that for the greater good some sacrifices are necessary.


	26. The Greater Good

**Chapter 25**

**For the greater good**

* * *

Ryo's log: August 2000, Piccolomon's coliseum, Digiworld. 

Surprisingly the third trial was a complete bust. We got separated while looking for a pair of children in a huge forest. Something hunted each of us down, something big. But it wasn't an enemy, far from it in fact, the hydra Orochimon was the protector of the forest. Everything we had been led to believe about the danger of the forest was based on the irrational fear of the dark that all the inhabitants seemed to be suffering from.

The entire thing was draining and we all could have gotten seriously hurt for no reason at all. I think it was the fact that I ran around while I already felt fatigued that made me so irritated. Something that did not go unnoticed by anyone, but there's nothing to be done about that now.

Later I had to face off against Mimi and Palmon, who unexpectedly gave us a really tough fight. I think we can all be lucky they are pacifists at heart; otherwise nothing would stand in those girls' way. Unexpectedly she also started to flirt around with me and truth be told I have no clue at all how I should handle this. I don't want to go to anyone for advice on this, so I'll just have to handle this on my own. Who could I ask anyway? Certainly not V-mon, he doesn't seem to have much luck with girls either. They say discretion is the better part of valour, so maybe I should just try to stay as far away from her as I can.

End log

* * *

Slowly the sun started to rise in the sky, dispelling the cool darkness of the night. A warm glow preceded the rising ball of light as it came up from the horizon. High atop the bleachers of the old coliseum a girl sat patiently to greet the first light of the day. She had gotten up early just for this, as she had every morning since the start of the tournament. During her stay she wanted to see as much of the digital world as she could, to make some good memories, and the perfect sunrise was one of them. It just didn't compare to the ones back home and neither did the company. In the year after they had first come she had missed the world she had helped protect a lot, and her partner even more. She was glad she could stay longer than the visit they had last May when Gennai had suddenly called them over to release their Crest power. A shield to protect the Digital World from evil, it seemed almost too good to be true, even though it was at the cost of the Perfection level their digimon could attain. 

"It's beautiful, isn't it, Tailmon," Hikari said softly.

The cat had to agree with that, the sight of what the newly risen sun did to the otherwise dull landscape was certainly breathtaking. But as the two took in the surrounding lands as more and more became clearer with the increasing light they saw something that did not belong there. Several forms were making their way to the coliseum, far too early and covertly to be up to any good.

"What are they doing?" Hikari wondered, getting up slowly to get a better view.

At her side Tailmon tensed, the memory of the attack two nights ago still fresh in her mind.

"I don't know, but we better warn someone before something goes wrong."

The words had barely left her mouth when a shockwave rocked the outer walls of the arena. Another attack had begun, but unlike before this one wasn't executed in stealth. With a thunderous crash another part of the old building collapsed, creating an opening for the hostile digimon to enter through. Hikari watched them enter solemnly, then started to run down to the centre floor. Below she saw that Yamato was leading a small group to stand against the invaders, surprise at what was happening melting away into determination. With a frown she noticed that her brother was not among those fighting, which was odd since being at the fray was definitely something for Taichi.

"I'm sure he's just being detained," Tailmon suggested.

* * *

Ryo suddenly sat straight up in bed, nearly dropping the piece of bread he'd been twiddling between his fingers. He had gotten an early start, for the first time in days, and it seemed that decision paid off. Something had just happened and it felt like the aftershock of some sort of explosion. Next to him V-mon also shot up from his own idle musings. 

"Something's happening," Ryo said, something they were both thinking.

"Maybe it's that piece of trash again," V-mon said through gritted teeth. Now that he was feeling completely recovered he wanted nothing more than another round against the assassin that nearly took his life.

Opening the door carefully V-mon peered out first, but there was nothing around. With all they had been through though it was best to be careful, especially in a place you thought of as safe. It made you careless and two nights ago that had nearly proven to be their downfall.

"We need to find out what's going on," V-mon said, looking at both ends of the deserted passage.  
Ryo placed a hand on the wall opposite of their room, feeling it sort of vibrate.

"I think something's happening in the arena, we have to-" He said before being cut off.

"Ryo! V-mon!" Taichi shouted while running up to them, Agumon trailing close behind.

"Taichi, what's going on?" Ryo asked.

"Nothing, just some minor scuffle," Taichi was trying to be reassuring, but his brow was uncharacteristically furrowed.

"I wouldn't call it minor," a calm voice sounded behind them, "but it's still nothing to worry about."

"Neo," Taichi said in a berating tone, watching the boy come from the opposite direction.

"What's wrong?" Neo said with an easy smile, "Ryo just wants to know what's going on, so I'll tell him. A group of digimon, all adults mind you, have staged an attack on this arena. They're probably sent by the three renegade Holy Beasts to try and stop us. Don't you think so Taichi?"

"Yeah," Taichi said slowly, "that's most likely it."

V-mon, who had been watching various expressions cross over both Taichi and Agumon's faces while Ryo's attention had been on the white haired boy, didn't like what he was seeing.

"So, what are we waiting for then?"

"I agree, if we go now they'll never know what hit them," Neo said.

"No, we can't," Taichi interjected before the situation slipped even further out of his control. He braved V-mon's mistrusting look, Ryo's surprised one and Neo's damn smugness, something he was disliking the boy more and more for as time passed.

_"Whatever happens, you must get Ryo and V-mon through this portal,"_ Taichi remembered Piccolomon saying when the pixie digimon handed him a folded piece of paper. _"We can't risk him at this stage, there's too much at stake."_

"Piccolomon's orders," Taichi said, holding up a folded piece of paper, "Ryo, as it stands now you and I are the ones who will most likely win the tournament. If so, we are the strongest possible candidates for fighting the Holy Beasts. Piccolomon doesn't want to risk either one of us falling before we can do what we need to do."

"But that's," Ryo started saying.

"Hard to swallow, I know," Taichi said, "but I have written instructions to take you and V-mon to some portal. Just do the fourth round and when you return everything will be back to normal."

"I don't like it," Ryo voiced.

"So where do we go then, have you read the instructions?" Neo asked.

Taichi shook his head, "I was trying to get here as quickly as possible. Didn't have time to read it yet."

A muffled pair of footsteps resounded suddenly from the gloomy hallway behind Neo, the noise seeming to be the result of a very fast stride. Briefly, before the situation could fully sink in, Ryo wondered what the architects had been thinking when they made the place with so few windows or sources of light.

With a long jump a tall lizard warrior landed right in their midst, an unknown digimon for most, but not to V-mon. He recognized the assailant immediately, but it wasn't he who got the first blow directed at him. Lashing out with a wooden armguard he swatted the boy he had landed next to away. With a painful groan Neo landed hard on his back inside Ryo's room through the still open door.

"You," V-mon sneered.

"Yes, me." Yashamon replied, swinging both his swords, driving his foes back against the walls. The two digimon against the far wall, while the two remaining boys pressed back against either side of the opening Neo had unceremoniously been flung through.

The gust of wind created by the slash also blew Piccolomon's instructions out of Taichi's outstretched hand. The boy swore, but had more on his mind at that time than to immediately get it back.

Disregarding the boys as a threat, something he made unmistakably clear with an amused chuckle, Yashamon turned his back to them to face the child digimon fully.

"You shouldn't have come back," V-mon grinned.

"And why not, the odds haven't improved for you since last time," Yashamon replied smugly.

"We'll see about that, do it Agumon," Taichi called out, accepting the consequences of bringing out Greymon in such an enclosed space. The walls protested, but were no match for the forces behind the evolution. When the light faded the large helmeted dinosaur dug his claws in the debris field to keep from slipping. Daylight entered the hallway through the gaping maw in the wall and ceiling.

Despite himself V-mon grinned at what was sure to be the next major headache for Piccolomon as more of his home was demolished right under his very nose.

"Such wanton destruction," Yashamon said admonishingly, "and you call me evil."

"That's because you are," V-mon said, around his body a slight glow was starting to form as he was beginning to evolve. A second glow, this one red from flames, was coming from Greymon's mouth as he was pulling his head back.

Before that could happen Yashamon dashed forward and leaped up to plant a hard kick into the dinosaur's unprotected lower jaw. Using that as a springboard the warrior made a second jump to land somewhere above the recently created hole. Greymon had to dig his claws deeper into the stone to keep from falling back from the impact. The fireball he had been forming inside his mouth was released into the air where it eventually dissipated without doing any damage.

"Like I told you, the odds aren't in your favour at all." He shifted his gaze then, to the scene of another battle being waged. One a lot larger than their scuffle, being fought down on the arena floor proper. Greymon looked back too, which was when Yashamon struck again. Setting of against the rocks and twisting his body around he touched down on the dinosaur's snout, then launched himself back inside. Immediately after landing he had to take a step back as an arrow of blue energy barely shot past him.

"Getting fired up I see," Yashamon taunted before jumping away again. A ball of fire crashed into the place he had just been standing.

"Hey, Greymon, watch where you shoot that stuff," Taichi commented, instinctively shielding his face from the few stray tongues of fire.

"Sorry," Greymon said, but he did not look at his partner. Looking away from their current foe had already proven to be a foolish venture.

"Do you really have the time to stay here and fight with me?" Yashamon asked, lowering his arms as if to provoke them into an attack. His two swords were once again strapped to his back, adding to the insult. When no one made a move he laughed lowly, "That's what I thought."

Contemptuously he turned his back to them and walked away, but the blue dragon wouldn't allow it.

"Cutter shoot," V-dramon called out, using multiple projectiles after the first one had failed. At once the mysterious warrior dashed forward, but he couldn't outrun the attack. From the corner of his eye he watched till the glow of the many small arrows was nearly on top of him, then he jumped forward and twisted his body around to face the attack. Using his momentum to keep flying back, his quick arm movements brought his guards into the path of every energy bolt that threatened to hit him. Unharmed he skidded back while several of the projectiles passed him harmlessly by.

With a snarl V-dramon made to follow the retreating attacker, but Ryo called him off.

"V-dramon don't, that's just what he wants. Besides, we have more to worry about than just him."

His gaze settled on the prone form of Neo, who moaned as he was slowly getting back up on his feet. Both digimon followed his gaze and devolved.

"Are you alright?" Ryo asked, offering his hand to help the other boy up. Rubbing his shoulders for a moment, Neo took the offer and got back on his feet.

"I'm fine, just a bit sore."

"If we're all okay, then let's get moving," Taichi said, picking up the instructions Piccolomon had left him from where they had fallen during the struggle. Now more than ever he wanted to forget all about it and just go drive out the attackers, but he knew he couldn't do that.

"What was that attack all about?" Agumon mused, staring off into the gloom Yashamon had disappeared in, having gone the way he came. It didn't make sense for him to leave so soon, but he had done so anyway.

"Who knows," Neo said, "maybe it was just to show that he can get to us at any time, maybe he just had to slow us down a bit, or perhaps he had an even deeper meaning. At this point we can't tell, so it's no use thinking about it. Taichi, where to now?"

* * *

With Taichi in the lead the group quickly made their way down to the arena floor, but at a side farthest away from the fighting. Staying close to the wall the boy wearing goggles led them to a large door at the far side of the battleground, the passageway leading down to the catacombs and the portals. 

Ryo was impressed by what he saw going on, even though the group of invading digimon was far larger than the defenders they seemed to hold their ground. It was no wonder they were called the Chosen.

Riding low on his partner, a large white wolf with blue stripes, Yamato led a charge right through the lines of Golemon to strike in the centre. Above two of the rock digimon he had just past a flurrying pink ball dropped two comical looking hammers on their heads.

Piccolomon noticed them first, but others were quick to see them too, others who weren't on their side.

"They're hereppi, go now," the pixie commanded. At once several forms broke from the melee to head off the smaller party. Ryo was relieved to find his friends among those forms. One of them suddenly jumped up high and brought down a white snowflake-topped staff. Shooting out several icy bolts the sorcerer knocked down enough pursuers so they could meet up halfway to the way down without any trouble.

"Don't worry about us, we'll hold them off at all costs, just get them down safelyppi," Piccolomon called over, "everything depends on it."

A troubled look crossed over Ryo's face, the words of the pixie, spoken innocently enough, reminded him of his conversation with Neo just the other night. Would the other Chosen just become more casualties because they believed he could do something they couldn't? Just like Ken? He shrugged off the thoughts and kept going, wondering just what kind of situation he would end up in this time.

* * *

"So this place is supposed to keep us safe," V-mon said sarcastically. Besides him Bearmon jumped in the air in fright when a streak of lightning came too close for comfort. The loud clap of thunder resounded before the cub had even landed. 

"I don't like this place," he said needlessly. The air above was in turmoil; dark venomous looking clouds swirled around while lightning streaked their contours. The ground beneath was no better, the earth was dark, hard and cold. Interspacing the barren landscape in irregular patterns were slabs of rock, appearing to all as tombstones.

Standing in front of one of them Ryo read a coarse inscription; 'Here lies Raremon, even well-done he failed to appeal'.

Resting his left hand on top of the stone he bent down to seemingly examine it better. In reality he was trying to drown out a buzzing in his head, all the while stifling a sudden yawn. He still wasn't feeling any better, but somehow this place was making things worse. If anything it reminded him of the first nightmare he had, when he was trapped in some kind of underground chamber, like a mausoleum.

Another flash of light, this one striking several stones some fifty meters away, made Ryo move from his crouch and back to the group. The others also huddled closer together.

"We aren't safe here at all, we need shelter," Meramon said, casting his gaze about. Standing taller the rest of them he was undoubtedly at most risk of being struck by lightning, but he could also see the farthest. The two flyers in the group took no chances and stayed firmly on the ground.

Still it wasn't the giant of fire who found a possible shelter.

"Over there, that looks like a way underground," Turuiemon pointed. Ryo's heart nearly skipped a beat when he saw the compound, a small mausoleum, the rabbit meant they should use for cover. But he said nothing; he knew they couldn't stay where they were, not with such a fierce storm out.

The concrete building, barely three meters in all directions, covered the entrance of a staircase down. Dull grey blocks of stone led down steeply into a hole of darkness.

"I'll go first," Sorcerymon said and held up his wand, the snowflake glowing with a bluish light. The others followed him down with Meramon in the middle. Together the two digimon gave off enough light for the group to see the steps down. Behind them the thunder continued to flash and the wind howled mercilessly through the graveyard.

* * *

One by one the group entered the chamber at the bottom of the stairs. It was a small cubicle of mat black stones, barely large enough for them all to stand in. Meramon even had to keep his head down. A door at the other side of the room led into something more spacious and lit, unlike the dark pit they had descended. Without a word the group moved on, entering a large hallway, also constructed of black stones. Light came from torches on the walls, the flickering flames creating erratic shadowy patterns all around. Their footsteps reverberated down the enormous passage even though they had barely set foot inside it. 

"Do we really have to go through this?" Bearmon asked. In his opinion the tunnel didn't seem any safer than the graveyard outside. Sure, no lightning would strike them down here, but the burning torches could only mean someone was living there. Whatever chose such a place for a home wasn't something the cub wanted to meet. Surely only the darkest of digimon would call this their home.

"If you want to go back up there and get vaporized, be my guest," Tsukaimon said dryly.

"I didn't mean it like that," Bearmon replied a bit testily, "it's just that the feel of this place is all wrong."

Silently Ryo had to agree with that assessment, this was by far the most foreboding place they had yet encountered. The place was cold, even colder than the graveyard and its harsh wind topside. The very walls seemed to exhume a feeling that chilled you to the bone.

"We have no choice Bearmon," Ryo said, "we can't stay outside with that storm, we need this shelter."

"At least there's light in here," Turuiemon added, stepping into the chamber last. Almost immediately, unknown to the group, a hidden mechanism in the walls was triggered. Though they didn't know this, the result became all to clear when the opening behind them was sealed by a large stone.

With a start they all rounded on the now closed entrance, the slab giving no way when Meramon's huge fist slammed into it. The giant winced and stepped back, holding his fist with his free hand close to his body. It looked fine again, but the moment he had struck the wall the flames on his hand had been sucked out, pervaded by the coldness of the stone. Meramon looked surprised, such a thing had never happened to him before.

The second to approach the sealing stone, a rock completely smooth and black aside from some inscriptions in the middle, was Sorcerymon. He rested a palm atop it and closed his eyes briefly.

"How odd," He stated, taking back his hand, "some kind of energy is flowing through this stone, through this entire hallway even. I didn't even notice it before, but it is clearly there now."  
"It must have activated when the door closed," Ryo ventured.

"Do you know what it does?" Turuiemon asked, taking a place besides the sorcerer. He scratched at the wall with his metallic claws, but could make no indentions.

Sorcerymon shook his head, "I can't be sure, but I think it's some sort of protection."

"Let's be sure," Turuiemon said, "Thundermon!"

"You got it," the ball digimon replied, hovering up into the air then shooting down further into the corridor. It didn't need to be said that the others had to step away from the door.

"Thunder Bomber."

A speck lit up in the distance, coming rapidly back towards them. Within a split second Thundermon, his form completely enveloped in electricity, crashed into the stone plate. But the rock just absorbed his lighting and he rebounded against the floor.

"Owie," Thundermon slurred, dropping back to the ground.

V-mon sighed, "Are you two stupid or something? What makes you think lightning would work in a place that has this in abundance?"

He pointed up to where the storm was still raging, then after Turuiemon averted his eyes he swayed his finger in Meramon's direction.

"And after our muscle-bound brute failed to make a dent, why would ball-boy be any different?"

"Muscle-bound brute?" Meramon muttered, looking at his strong arm with a frown.

"I'd hit you for that if the world wasn't spinning so much," Thundermon said.

Sitting at the side Tsukaimon and Bearmon were enjoying themselves watching the exchange while Ryo and Sorcerymon had returned to the undamaged blockade. Together they were looking at the inscription on the stone, written in digicode.

"Can you make it out?" Ryo asked. He had been trying to learn how to read the writing of the digital world, but hadn't made much progress. Like his own language it had proven to hold a lot of complexities. Aside from that, even to his untrained eye, this message looked a bit off somehow.

"I can, somewhat, the writing is in an older variety than anything I've encountered so far. Whoever wrote this either lived a long time ago or the language hasn't been altered at all in these parts," Sorcerymon replied.

"Given the looks of the place I'd say it was the former," Ryo guessed, thoughtfully running a hand over the inscription. Somehow it seemed less cold if he touched it there.

"That's most likely the case," the sorcerer replied. At the silence behind him he inclined his head a bit to see that they had gotten the attention of the rest.

"Here what I think it says, 'Abandon hope all who venture here, the home of-' something about a lord or something I can't make out, something demonic at least. 'Across the backs of many, the few shall stand to conquer'; something else about paying a toll or being lost forever and that the only way out is to go in."

V-mon huffed, his arms crossed over his chest, "Sounds like typical viral bullshit to me, walking all over people."

"I wouldn't call that just a viral thing," Ryo said, amazed that his partner was still holding to his prejudice. But, he had to concede, that the ones more inclined to that kind of behaviour were mostly viral types.

"Well, not all of them are like that of course, but most are," V-mon said, thinking of Wormmon as the only exception he knew, "it's in their nature."

"As interesting as a type debate is," Turuiemon interjected, "I think we have more important things to consider. Like getting out of here. If that block of garbage is right, it won't be easy."

* * *

With the only known exit blocked and coupled with the assumption that even if they could have left it wouldn't have served any purpose the group moved on. Even when they did not know what it was all other tests had them take care of something, even if the task proved to be pretty meagre like it had the day before. So just staying at the entry point wouldn't help them at all. 

The surroundings filled Ryo with a feeling of dread, reminiscent to the occasions he had been in similar places. It was a far cry from being the factorial haven both Mugen Dramon and Nanomon had employed, nor was it like the arid caves of Death Meramon's volcano. But still it felt like a place an evil force like them would call home, certainly the warning, if it was in fact a warning, on the door seemed to imply that very thing.

Ryo frowned, when did he become such a worrywart? Before, even when he had to look out for Ken, everything had been an adventure. He had revelled in that feeling and had sought out danger whenever an opportunity presented itself. Had he not single-handedly found the hidden prison beneath Toy Town, to free V-mon and Monzaemon from Phantomon?

Ryo remembered enjoying the feel of adrenaline pumping through his veins. And later still he had tried to relive that exact feeling when he broke into Devitamamon's mansion with a self-serving critter that could not be trusted at all. Again without anyone for back-up.

What happened to that boy? Ryo thought, I'm not supposed to be like this, what has changed?

It wasn't the first time had asked himself that question and he doubted it would be the last. All he could come up with was that he had started to feel wrong when he had entered the tournament, when he had left Ken behind and the nightmares started.

In the darkness of the hallway, a dreary and unchanging place, he only had his own thoughts to entertain himself with. As before, whenever he was left to himself even among others, he found himself locked in the same mental loop.

After a lot of time the group stopped at a large ornate door in a gothic style. Bats of all kind, all burning, were carved roughly out of a bronze looking material. It didn't look welcoming and Ryo was sure that you'd cut off your fingers just by grazing the edges of the wings.

"This looks promising," V-mon grinned, Bearmon whimpered.

"We won't get anywhere just standing here," Ryo sighed, torn between both V-mon and Bearmon's sentiments. Silently Meramon obliged, using his larger frame to push open the door. Halfway up the door, though that was still at the fire giant's total height, were two plates that didn't look so sharp that he could use as handles. Squeaking loudly the door started to open inward, exhuming a black mist as the opening got bigger. Before it was opened completely the group experienced a tugging feeling followed by being pushed back, even though they kept standing right where they were. When it was over though they were no longer in the hallway.

Darkness was all around them and it wasn't till they got a bit more used to it that they discerned the dark blue lines at several locations all around, twelve all together. They were inside a giant cube, completely black and dark though they could still see each other perfectly. What they couldn't see though was an exit.

"It's a trap," Turuiemon hissed.

A low, husky laugh sounded through the enclosure, but there was no one to be seen. Slowly a tall womanly form started to materialize at the far side of the chamber, dressed in a tight fitting black outfit.

"Dearest child, this is no trap," the Lady Devimon said, "Surely you should know this? No?"

"If not a trap, then what is this place," Turuiemon countered, already on edge from the enclosed space he was not in the mood for the demon's taunts.

She licked her lips, sizing each of them up as if deciding who to eat first. "Virgins," she crooned, sending a chill down Ryo's back. "Younglings to the way of darkness."

Again she laughed, "I can't believe this, it's been so long since anyone fresh came down here."

"Yes, we've just arrived here," Sorcerymon said diplomatically, taking a step forward while addressing the woman. In any other circumstances it wasn't wise to show how little you knew, but one way or another they were completely at the Lady Devimon's mercy. His senses couldn't penetrate the walls of the cubicle, and he hadn't known she was there until she revealed herself. If the woman so chose they would be trapped forever.

"Could you tell us where we are, is this your home?"

"Home?" She looked thoughtful for a moment, "not really, though this space right here is mine I wouldn't call it home. Not that where I usually am is much homelier, but it has its uses. In here though, I am everything. If you're not careful, you'll never get out."

"This is about the toll, isn't it?" Ryo asked, remembering what Sorcerymon had said earlier.

Lady Devimon's lips parted slightly in a grin, revealing a gleaming fang, "So you do know something? You're right, this is about paying a fee if you want to go on."

"Just like it said on that inscription. And if we want to go back?" Ryo continued.

"The same, no one leaves this place without paying the price."

"And what is the price?" Ryo asked, unable to keep a frown from forming on his face, "We're not going to like it, are we?"

She shrugged, "That depends, some don't like it, others don't really care. Most who come in here are aware enough to prepare their payment in advance."

"What is the payment?" Ryo asked again, this time more firmly.

"Feisty," Lady Devimon purred and once again the boy was reminded of a cat about to eat the canary, "I like that in a man. Tell you what, since you appeal to me so and I'm really a nice girl at heart I'll explain to you all how this works and give you a discount for a group this large."

While the offer sounded nice Ryo couldn't help but shake the thought that she was playing with them.

"What do you say? Sounds good, no?"

Ryo considered her words, but realized that whether or not she really meant them did not matter. She could demand anything and he doubted they could do anything about it, at least not while trapped inside the black cube. Trapped they were, even if the Lady Devimon said otherwise.

No one answered, all were waiting for Ryo to decide. Guess I'm still the leader of this party, he thought. He wondered if he would have minded if someone, say Sorcerymon, had taken over the leadership position. Most of what they did was done in deliberation, but in times like these they all deferred to him. While he still felt more doubts than he cared for he also felt he rather liked leadership. It had grown on him after all his time in the digital world.

"Sound good I suppose," Ryo answered, "please tell us then what you know of this place."

"Why certainly," Lady Devimon drawled, she was certainly going to enjoy this.

"First, where are you? You have no idea, no? Basically this world is divided in two factions, us and the angels. You are now in the most important of places, our Lord's very home after casting out against the winged ones."

Sorcerymon nodded, the story confirming the inscription and the direness of their situation. In a place brooding in a civil war they had arrived in the camp of the worst side.

Lady Devimon continued her lecture, seemingly getting more excited at the prospect of finishing with every word she spoke. "To get anywhere you need to pass certain spaces like mine, where you pay a toll for any direction you want, either forward or back. Which brings us to the current situation, no?"

"And the price we have to pay," V-mon stated briskly. If it was just him he would have already blasted the demon and taken his chances trying to get out. He could see the same sentiment was written on several other faces as well. But it wasn't up to him, looking at a scared Bearmon and his human partner. Though he was sure Ryo wouldn't like him thinking like that of him, as someone who needs protection. Ryo hated their forced withdrawal from the battle just as much as he did, all because of some stupid plan Piccolomon had set up. Once more he doubted whether the pixie really had any inkling of what he was doing. So far they weren't any safer than they had been back at the coliseum, in fact it seemed to be getting progressively worse.

The lizard swallowed hard, having a nasty suspicion of what the price they needed to pay was going to be. Hadn't it been stated on that inscription, the motto of so many viral digimon, to step on other peoples' lives to get ahead.

The woman smirked, "As toll to get out of here, I'll be taking the life of one of you."

Like deer caught in the headlights of a car they all froze, even the few who had expected as such. Suspicion was one thing, but to have it actually happen was something completely different. The shocked stupor didn't last long though.

"Like hell," V-mon growled, lunging forward. He didn't care to look if anyone followed, intend only on his target. Close behind him Turuiemon and Thundermon attacked as well.

"No, don't!" Sorcerymon called out belatedly. All around him his magically attuned senses could feel a dark power building up. The results were soon apparent to all of them as the darkness seemed to get more intense, as hard as that was to imagine since it already seemed perfect, and the edges of the cubes flared with a dark blue intensity.

The first to charge, V-mon reached Lady Devimon first, his jump carrying him towards her head.

"V-mon Head!" He said, acting as a living cannonball. Ryo and the others saw what he did not, how the demon became vaguely transparent. Though right on target he missed miserably as he passed right through her.

Behind him, and in front of Lady Devimon, the other two attackers faltered in their charge. Their undoing as she became fully formed again and slapped them out of the way with her huge claw before phasing out again.

She made no further move to attack any of them, but the threat was not gone. Bearmon noticed it first, in his fear he had cast his gaze about him, desperately trying to find a way out. The walls, the floor and the ceiling, were all coming closer together. Somehow the chamber was caving in upon itself.

"It's shrinking," He exclaimed.

It continued for a bit before stopping its implosion and Lady Devimon spoke again. As an almost blatant threat, not that Ryo believed they needed it after the previous display of power, the room did not return to its previous size. Nor did the edges stop throbbing with barely contained power. It was as if the walls longed to become one again, then be lost in a single point or maybe not even that after the collapse was finished.

At last the boy recognized the feeling he got from the place, more so inside the chamber than inside the hallway or even the graveyard though it differed only in intensity and not the meaning. It was as if he was back on that volcano, standing in front of the portal to the dark world, the one he had nearly been lost in trying to get it closed. Since then, he had often felt similar feelings inside his dreams. But this was the first time he had felt it in reality.

Have we gone to that place? He wondered, shirking down a wave of panic. It couldn't be, he reasoned, Piccolomon would never send them there, would he?

"As you can see," Lady Devimon said triumphantly, "you can't beat me here, not inside this space which is bound to my will. Even if you were to succeed in killing me, you would not get out. You wouldn't even exist any more, nor would the place you're trying to escape."

As if to accentuate the point the chamber shrunk a bit more.

"One life, I don't care whose it is. I'll even let you decide it by yourselves. Be thankful your little outburst didn't up the ante."

Ryo was far from thankful; one of them was going to have to die for the others to get out. The possibility of death had always been there he knew, but it had never come and he hadn't cared to think about it much. This meant of course it had been crossing his mind more and more given his depressed state. But even so he had imagined death to come in battle, to at least die honourably. Not like this, like some sort of coinage, as payment, as a sacrifice. Who would be the one to die?

The decision was made almost before he took his next breath and a calmness he hadn't felt in a while settled all about him. All his companions, they were there because of him, he was the leader, he was responsible. He knew what he had to done.

"If that's the case," he started, but didn't get to finish.

"Don't be absurd," Sorcerymon interjected almost at once, his voice strained more than usual. "You can't be our sacrifice; you're a Chosen and an important one at that. You, at least, must get out of here."

Ryo stared in surprise, first at the sorcerer and then at the others. All of them had come to surround him, even V-mon and the other attackers had returned while he was thinking. All of them agreed with the white wizard.

"And you are not important, is that it?" Ryo bit back more venomously than he had intended.

"All life is important," Sorcerymon said, his tone calm despite the graveness of the situation, "in this case though, yours is the more important one. You have a purpose, we're only here to help you achieve that purpose."

Ryo moved as if to protest, but the sorcerer held up his hand to silence him.

"There's more than that, in knowing you we've learned things about you Chosen, about you humans, that none of the legends and stories mentioned. When we die, we get reconfigured and are born again, granted even that isn't completely guaranteed. You however only have one chance and when you're gone you won't be coming back."

"Will you be reconfigured if you die here? Are you really willing to chance that?" Ryo demanded.

"Yes, because it's still a chance that you don't have."

"How touching," Lady Devimon sniffed mockingly.

"Cowards," V-mon grimaced, "hiding behind parlour tricks and quackery."

"A-are you leaving us?" Bearmon asked his leader, the only one of the old resistance to still be with him, sadly. It sounded like too much of a goodbye to him.

Surprisingly it was the man of fire, Meramon, who answered for him, the first time he made his presence known other than just being there.

"No, he won't," he said, stepping away from the others. "I will be the one to see you off. Think of it as me returning the favour you bestowed upon my home. Thanks to you, my people will live. My life as payment for that, is a bargain."

"Meramon," Ryo whispered.

"I hate long goodbyes," he said, marching right up to the demonic woman, "do what you must."

"But of course," she said, a moment before her transformed arm went right through the fire digimon's heart like a stake. Leaving it right there she licked her lips as Meramon fell apart from the hole on out, never making any sound other than an involuntary grunt the moment he was stabbed.

Balling his fists, his nails digging painfully in his own skin, Ryo felt a wave of anger at the ruthlessness of Meramon's demise, it sickened him like few things ever had. His head buzzed as the world collapsed all around them and they were suddenly in another hallway, all of them, minus one.

* * *

Made of black marble, smooth and polished, the floor would have shone with reflected light had the room not been cloaked in darkness. The floor was only part of the majesty of the room though. Set against a far wall was a queen sized bed, made of the most beautiful wood that had once grazed the plains outside naturally. Now those plains were a blasted wasteland filled with the tombstones of the misfortunate. No one lay buried there, digimon didn't leave corpses, but it wasn't hard to imagine such possibilities. At one time captives had been buried alive, staying sealed under the ground till their life ran out and they decomposed. 

The bed had four posts that reached out to the ceiling with velvety curtains that hung between them, closed while the bed's occupant slumbered. Above the ceiling portrayed a rather stunning fresco, of angels and demons fighting.

Soft silken sheets ruffled as with a low moan the sleeper awoke. She was a tall voluptuous woman with pale skin and long hair, black as night, which cascaded down her back. Slowly she said up straight in her bed, letting the sheets slip down. The drowsiness she felt receded quickly even though she had woken several hours earlier than she had intended. Something had just happened, a spike of power of unknown origin within her very domain.

"Attendants," she called out to the empty room. Mere seconds went by before the room's lights, antique candelabras, were lit and the curtains of her bed pushed aside. With the lights on she was greeted with the sight of shiny white marble walls, inlaid with half-sunken pillars.

Several women, tall and pale, though far more so than their mistress, stood at her bidding. Two of the Lady Devimon held out their hands, the smaller of the two, for their mistress to take.

Two delicate and slender hands rested on the offered palms and the attendants helped her out of her bed. The sheets followed suit only part of the way, then slipped along her legs when she left the bed completely. She enjoyed the feel of the soft fabric against her legs and skin.

Letting her arms slide out of the palms of the two Lady Devimon she stretched several pairs of bat like wings while others came with her dress, robes and accessories. Silently she let them dress her. A demure Lilymon bowed low before her, the only non-demonic digimon in the room and even the entire hidden manor. She had been fierce once, but those days lay far behind and forgotten. With trained skill she went to work on her mistress' hair, combing it, straightening it, before cupping it in a tight bun and an elaborate headdress, offered to her by one of the other attendants. When she was finished Lilymon backed away from her mistress, meekly in a respectable curtsy.

"We have guests?" She said, though her tone made it a statement and not a question.

"Yes mistress," a Lady Devimon answered, "a group of newcomers, seemingly unaligned with anyone, has just past the first Sanctum."

She moved to leave the room, the others hastening to take their correct positions around her. No group was ever allowed to enter deep inside with their full power, but this time there was going to be an exception. She couldn't risk them foolishly sacrificing the source of the power she had briefly felt in order to get through.

"Send them to the Reception next," Lilithmon ordered, hardly able to wait to satisfy her curiosity at what she had sensed. Only one man had ever emitted a feeling similar to that brief spike and he was, for the moment, out of her reach.

* * *

The party paused at another door, similar and yet also different from the previous one. Again on the surface a flurry of bats was displayed, though these weren't burning. They knew it could only mean that more of them were going to die. It also confirmed that they had indeed been send further in and not back. With the passageway looking exactly the same they hadn't been certain, but they were now. 

The group stayed silent, no one was in the mood for conversation after Lady Devimon killed Meramon. Though they'd only known him briefly, he was a part of their group, a friend.

"There's," Turuiemon briefly paused, "no use postponing the inevitable is there?"

Ryo nodded, and both the rabbit and Thundermon stepped forward, each pushing against a side of the door, careful not to cut themselves on the sharp edges. It started to open and once again they felt themselves drawn into another space. There was no discernable difference between the first chamber and this one, only that the keeper was already there waiting for them. He was a tall man with blond hair, wearing a small mask over his eyes and standing in a regal outfit adorned with a black and red cape.

"You know how this works," the Vamdemon said in a bored tone, "make a choice, but be quick about it. You're beneath my attention."

This time, without hesitation, Sorcerymon stepped forward.

"Bearmon," he said, turning slightly around, "make sure you live through this, and don't forget what we set out to do. Remember that vengeance won't bring anyone back, but that the criminal we chased has to be stopped before he commits further atrocities."

"Sorcerymon," Bearmon sobbed.

"You'll do fine," he said with a sad smile before looking at Turuiemon. Silently the two, who had both been leaders and knew the responsibility, agreed that they would go first before letting harm come to the younger and weaker members of their group. It was the right thing to do, to make sure that Ryo and Bearmon got out at least.

"I know," Turuiemon spoke up, "don't worry about a thing. If we can we'll also keep to our earlier agreement."

After the ravaging of Tama City by Chimeramon they had joined with the remainder of the resistance to track down the murdering Boogeymon. Instead their journey had led them to Ryo and the tournament and they had helped out because of their previous encounter with the boy, but their true goal had never left their minds.

"Ryo, V-mon," the sorcerer addressed the last two, "it's been both an honour and a pleasure working with you."

"This isn't right," V-mon spat.

"Sometimes, for the greater good, sacrifices are necessary," the sorcerer placated, as if he wasn't just about to die, "this is one of those times."

"Thank you Sorcerymon, for everything," Ryo finally managed to say.

"Are you sure about this?" Vamdemon asked sceptically, "Using your strongest members first isn't tactically sound."

"But it's the right thing to do," Sorcerymon replied, leaving himself wide open for an attack. The vampire shrugged, what the fools who wanted to get past him decided was of no real concern. Red lightning cackled at his fingertips and without another word he slashed at his proffered target.  
Ryo didn't want to see what was going to happen, but he forced himself to watch nonetheless. Sorcerymon was dying for them; the least he could do was watch his brave sacrifice. Cleaved in several pieces by the attack the sorcerer's remains didn't stay cohesive long.

With the price paid the space collapsed around them, just like before, but when they returned to normal space they did not end up inside a hallway like the previous time.

* * *

The room they were now in was huge and looked for all the world like a Victorian ballroom, a gigantic ballroom. Like before they stood on marble, but unlike before the marble was smooth and polished and alternated between white and black in a checkers pattern. But it was more than that, as their eyes scanned the straight lines, like a chess board, sometimes they would go in circles, or follow different patterns. When glancing again, there were only straight lines, an impressive optical illusion. 

Flashes of light, clearly seen though the room didn't get much brighter from them, came from above. A huge round skylight of glass and metal gave them sight into the turbulent skies above, the storm still persisting as if it would never abate.

Statues of demons in several poses of grandeur, like a Devimon poised to take the life of a feeble looking Angemon, stood at several places among the walls. Two huge, truly grandiose ones stood on either end of two curved stairs leading to a balcony at the far end of the chamber. One of them looked vaguely like the Lady Devimon they had encountered earlier, just like the other one looked like a Vamdemon in a distant way.

The statue of the woman had several pairs of wings, all bat-like, wearing an elaborate dress and tightly cropped hair. The one of the man wore a regal looking outfit, and had twelve powerful wings. On one side they were like the wings of a bat, the others were angelic.

The group was in awe, and silently walked a few meters further into the room, passing two elaborate wooden display cases on either side of them. Like trophy cases you couldn't just enter the room without taking notice of them or their content. Curious at this Tsukaimon flew over to one of them and landed next to a pear-like object with a small bolt of thunder sticking out at one end.

"What do you suppose this is?" He whispered.

Bearmon who had followed him, keeping himself at the back of the group by doing so, shrugged, "I don't know, but it looks pretty nice."

"I think it's a Digimental of some kind," Ryo supplied, glancing back while he and the rest moved away from the displays. During his stay with Gennai he had learned more of the ways of evolution available to digimon. One of them, an old and artificial one, was created during the first crisis and the original Chosen. Many had been made, encompassing different traits and evolution paths, for their allies to take during battle. During those days they'd been almost hopelessly outmatched and Gennai wasn't willing to offer more information than that. Most had been lost though, so it was a bit of a surprise to see the collection now.

He ignored them, with V-mon able to evolve to adult and with Ken, though more particularly Wormmon, out of action he had no need of alternate adult stages.

"This is place is huge," Thundermon breathed, "I wonder how many demons this place could hold."

"I pray we never find out," Turuiemon said.

Ryo, flanked on one side by Turuiemon and on the other by V-mon and Thundermon, looked around for a direction to go next. There were a few doors along the walls, but none really caught his eye. The only one really up for consideration was the one on the balcony, the one that was opening even as he was thinking about it.

What came out wasn't something any of them had ever wanted to see, a group of about six Lady Devimon trailing respectably behind a female digimon that bore a striking resemblance to the large statue at one side of the stairs. Ryo and the others knew at once that she was the one in charge of the other demons, that she was an Ultimate leading half a dozen Perfection digimon against them.

"Stay back," Turuiemon beckoned to the two child digimon near the Digimentals. They cast about, but there was no way they could run now. Going back wasn't an option either.

"Welcome," the woman said suavely, her voice echoing to them. It did not set them at ease. Without any real course of action available the group held their ground while the others descended the stairs to finally stop on the floor some meters away.

"When entering someone's house," she spoke lightly, "it's only proper to introduce yourself. I can see who your friends are, but you boy, tell me your name."

Seeing no reason to be impolite and all the more to just play along, Ryo did just that.

"I'm Akiyama Ryo, a Chosen working for Gennai. We came here by accident and would like to be on our way."

The woman looked thoughtful, tapping her chin with a slender finger.

"Chosen?" She replied, raising an eyebrow, as if the word was completely foreign to her. Ryo found it hard to believe she had never heard of the Chosen, even the most secluded of areas had heard at least rumours.

"Oh yes," she said suddenly, "the peons of the Harmonious Ones, you're still being used? How quaint."

Ryo frowned at the insult, but made his expression neutral again as fast as he could, the ones in front of him weren't the type he wanted to aggravate.

"Ryo, such a tasty name. You can call me Lilith," she continued, then beckoned him to come closer. Ryo stayed where he was, while V-mon and the two adults moved to stand in front of him, looking tense and ready for trouble. Trouble that would kill them, because they had no way of winning against such odds.

"Foolish," Lilithmon smiled and snapped her fingers. A chorus of screeching suddenly came from high above and all around them, quickly reaching a thunderous crescendo. The skylight was blotted out by a swarm of misshapen, hairy creatures, Evilmon. More than they could count.

Ryo swallowed hard and then stepped past his would-be protectors.

"Ryo," V-mon hissed, "What are you doing?"

"What I have to do," Ryo replied simply, not turning around. The Lady Devimon spread out around Lilithmon while Ryo approached. Faster than he wanted he stood in front of her, looking up to the taller woman. She was beautiful, he had to admit that, more so than any digimon or human he had ever seen. After all the monsters he had faced and of the one that he imagined, dreamed even, who would kill him, this was not the face that came to mind. He almost wanted to laugh.

"Get away from him," V-mon threatened, but against Lilithmon it was an empty threat. The blue lizard didn't even move, except to tremble fiercely. In his mind he had seen what would happen if he tried to get to the human boy, he would be run through before he even got close.

The boy for his part did not tremble, though he was fighting a losing battle to keep himself from bolting. He did not get the chance to; before his resolve could break he was held against the woman's body. She had knelt before him, since he only reached up her leg and little under her waist otherwise. Her arms embraced him, holding him close to her, unrelenting yet gentle. In her embrace he felt himself getting cold. It started with a prickling on his skin where she touched him, but it quickly spread over his entire body. Then he got colder inside.

His head started to slump against her chest and he was unable to keep his eyes open, he felt so tired. Not again, he thought, but even his own thoughts were beginning to feel foreign to him. It was almost painful, then with a sharp flash he remembered.

Defeat, hopelessness, cold, darkness and a lake of ice high atop a mountain. The young boy stood before it, confident still, holding in front of him the egg-shaped device he had received upon entering that world. No colour, a portal to a world that sucked away life. He was going to close it and then…

More pain, but it felt like it happened to someone else, and with another flash he remembered. Victory, triumph, the beating of odds that by all rights shouldn't have been broken. Heat, sand and a desert and a boy kneeling in front of another, writhing in pain. Despair and the monster responsible for the pain reformed. He wouldn't let it, he was going to seal it with the final gift the boy had brought him. A well formed blue crystal to draw in the evil, he brought it to bear to seal the monster away, and then…

More memories, of failure and near misses, and all the while he felt himself losing sight of who he was. Odd, considering his memories, the ones he was seeing, shaped him into the person he had become, into himself.

Detached from himself and the world he felt as if he was floating inside a sea of nothingness.

"Is that what I am?" He questioned himself in the recesses of his mind, "A failure, one who almost wins but not completely?"

Certainly the images around him seemed to suggest so, but that couldn't be right, could it? There was only one thing he was sure of now, something, a feeling, a thought, instinct, what it was didn't matter. He knew, and it evolved from faint whisper to absolute certainty, he knew he did not want to die. In his void, his mind, that thought began to dominate all others and soon the memories were overwhelmed by them. Alone again in darkness, he saw, felt or sensed, once again the how did not matter, a speck of light.

He knew what it was, he had called upon it on many occasions. It was power, and that was all he needed. In his mind, he reached out for it and heading his call it washed over him. In a flash, his sense of self returned, he knew he had made a mistake. This wasn't like before, not a drop of power to evolve V-mon, or V-dramon into Paildramon, it was a tidal wave. One thought remained before he screamed out, both in his mind and in reality, that it was that same power he had called on to close to portal to the world of darkness. Only this time there was none of the restraint there had been before.

Ryo wanted to fight against it, but it was more than he could stand, overwhelming his mind which was in a precarious state to begin with completely. He was losing the struggle to hold the energy back, but then another feeling came to him. Why was he trying to stop it? Wasn't it his power to begin with, his to use when needed? And it was certainly needed now.

No, another part of him whispered urgently, it wasn't just his power, there was a foreign element to it. And while it did seem somewhat familiar, it was separate nonetheless. But, he thought back at himself, what did that matter. Power was needed and with this power he could make himself safe. True, his doubts whispered back, though he still felt slightly doubtful. He wanted to be safe, alive and safe, that's what he wanted. With a relieved sigh, his worries and doubts cast away, he stopped fighting it and slipped down into the power and unconsciousness.

* * *

Lilithmon smiled triumphantly as she felt the boy slump against her. 

"What are you doing to Ryo?" V-mon demanded.

"Don't you know what he is?" She returned with another question, caressing the boy's hair. The sight made them sick, but they couldn't do anything against it.

"Our friend, that's what," Thundermon spoke up vehemently. The Lady Devimon laughed at his outburst and he slumped back a bit in defeat.

"Friend?" Lilith feigned surprise, "don't you mean battery? I felt it briefly before, but now I'm sure of it. Your 'friend' holds a tremendous power, I merely want to draw it out."

"And take it for yourself," Turuiemon spat.

"Naturally," she shrugged.

"Viral trash," V-mon said angrily, no longer caring if he aggravated them. He would not her just get away with whatever she wanted. Even if it cost him his life, even if he couldn't get close, he couldn't bear the thought of walking away and leaving Ryo behind. Not after all their time together, he would not abandon a friend and partner to death just to live himself. The sacrifices of Meramon and Sorcerymon fresh in his mind, he knew it was time to be as brave as they had been.

"No need to be insulting," Lilith pouted briefly, "but I haven't told you how I was going to get his power did I? Can you guess? You have been in some stressful situation haven't you? Not so much for us, but for Chosen lackeys making sacrifices must be heart wrenching."

The demons attending her laughed again, while high above the swarm of monsters continued to screech.

"He briefly let it out in a moment of stress, so I'm forcing him to release his power by making an attempt on his life. Of course I won't carry it out completely mind you, that would be wasteful. This should be distressing enough for him, don't you think?"

"You bitch," V-mon growled, taking a few steps forward. In her arms Ryo had a momentary convulsion, and she let out a moan of delight.

"Can you feel it?" She asked V-mon, "it won't be long now and then I'll finally see this wondrous power for myself. If it's impressive enough this boy will live to be my weapon. If not he'll die soon after you, after you've tried to evolve for him."

Indeed he could feel it, power came to him from Ryo through his Digivice, as it had done in times of trouble before. Truthfully he barely had a use for it, able to evolve on his own for brief periods of time due to his age, but every bit helped. He wondered if he could evolve before the women were on top of him, but he dismissed the thought as irrelevant, he had to try whatever was going to happen. His mind was set.

Then Ryo suddenly threw his head back and screamed, shocking even the woman holding him. At his waist the Digivice flared to life, glowing with more light than it had ever done before. The tiny device did its best to regulate the energy flow to the partner digimon it was bonded to, but there was just too much power for it to channel safely in the normal fashion. On the display an image of V-mon appeared, then it attempted to connect to as many digimon that had a connection with its Chosen as it could. First an image of a rabbit appeared, then of a ball-like digimon, a winged hamster and a bear. Finally an image of a crystal appeared, but the display turned to static the moment it hit that particular image. Beams of light blue energy shot out from the device, hitting all digimon the Digivice had connected to.

V-mon screamed, just like Ryo was doing, as the power flowing into him triggered the evolution into V-dramon. But it didn't stop there, nor was the feeling he got from it like before. It was wild, uncontrollable, aggressive, and as he evolved again so was he.

His body got even larger and the horns on the back of his head grew more sinuous and harder. At the sides of his face and other parts of his body he grew sharper, sprouting new horns. His elbows now sported serrated spikes like those on his head, and a smaller on came from his snout. Similarly he still had a big body, but it was now more muscle than bulk. With his form still alight with the light of evolution he felt powerful wings erupt from his back and with but a few strong flaps he raised himself upward. He had reached perfection level, though without the joint evolution with Wormmon he did not become Paildramon. Instead he was Aero V-dramon, the more natural-looking evolution for him, and he was pissed off beyond recognition.

Turuiemon snarled, realizing what must be happening but unable to stop it. Not that he wanted to, he welcomed the power into his body. He hadn't thought Ryo could support more than one digimon in evolution, and certainly not to a level beyond Adult. From what he had heard from the boy and others, you needed a crest for that or another digimon in order to reach Perfection. Ryo was using neither. But as he grew taller and taller, those thoughts ceased to matter. Also taking to the air, the now many times larger rabbit, no longer purple coloured but brown as he had been when he was still a Lopmon, hovered next to the blue dragon. He now had arms that reached down to his feet, and given is already tall disposition, that left him with two very large potential clubs. Ones Antiramon was dying to use against his foes.

Along with them a third digimon rose up into the air, his body hardened, becoming metallic. On his right arm a pair of claws formed, while his left became a small cannon. The smallest of the lot, Thundermon, had become a digimon that was equally diminutive, but that only hid the power he wielded as Metal Mamemon.

Behind them, still on the ground, Bearmon turned into a large grizzled bear, Grizzmon. Having taken refuge close to one of the Digimental displays he only vaguely heard the shattering of wood when his larger form burst through it, the Digimentals it held crashing to the floor negligently.

Tsukaimon had the most time to realize what was happening, the energy meant for him passed right into the pear-shaped Digimental he had been admiring as it stood directly into the path of the energy flow. Even so, the winged child had no time to react when the aforementioned talisman blew apart from the energy overload, its shards penetrating his body painfully. He too evolved, but his evolution was now influenced by the foreign pieces in his body. He became tall, sleek and standing on two legs. His body, now humanoid in nature, was enveloped by a tight fitting blue and white coloured outfit. Sharp blades, like skates, formed underneath his large blue boots and his gauntlets ended in a yellow lightning bolt. He was armoured over his chest, blue like his suit with two yellow circles. A helmet, also blue with yellow markings, covered his head ending in sharp points. Around his neck he wore a white scarf which ended almost like a cape behind his back. Rinkmon stood proudly, the pain of his evolution momentarily forgotten, on top of the Digimental display while the other talismans fell to the floor with the ones Grizzmon had knocked over.

For Lilithmon it had seemed like time had stopped, one moment she had been triumphant over two adults and three children, but now she suddenly faced three Perfection digimon and two adults. She hadn't even seen them evolve and from the reactions of her attendants, neither had they. Of course they hadn't, otherwise they would have intervened during evolution as planned. She only wanted to evaluate the boy's power potential and not face it like this. She wondered if this was part of the power the boy in her arms, once again fallen quiet and seemingly unconscious, possessed. Most disconcerting, how had he been able to release so much energy by himself?

Aero V-dramon wasn't going to give her the time to figure it out, roaring like a mad beast he unleashed a torrent of blue energy right at the swarm of Evilmon above. It was so much it didn't even attempt to form itself into an arrow. It hit part of the swarm dead on, going right through them and exploding when it hit the chamber's ceiling, coming very close to the sky light. All digimon in its path had been annihilated. The flash of the explosion blocked out the sharp light of the thunder high above.

At this sudden threat the Lady Devimon reacted, intend on taking on the three Perfection digimon pair wise so they'd have the advantage. The Evilmon, driven wild by the attack, chattered madly while they dove down from their position at the ceiling.

Lilithmon smirked, even though they had seemed to have turned the situation in their favour, it was only an illusion. They were still outnumbered and outclassed, it was only a matter of time before they were killed and she'd have full possession of the prize in her arms.

As if in response to her unspoken thoughts a throaty chuckle came from the limp body in her arms, the one she thought was unconscious. Slowly his head started to lift, but Ryo's eyes were still closed and his mouth tightly sealed, unlike when he had screamed like the hounds of hell were about to devour him. There was no sign that he had just laughed quietly to himself and if it wasn't that he held his head up on his own she was sure he wasn't conscious.

His eyelids flickered then and for a moment she thought she saw something that couldn't be. Slowly as if to savour the moment he opened his eyes fully, paralyzing Lilithmon by what she saw in them. His right eye was a beautiful blue, but it seemed absent and lifeless as though no consciousness burned behind it. The way he should have been completely, but wasn't. It wasn't that eye that frightened her either; it was the left one, shining with a malevolent red hue. And underneath those mismatched eyes an ugly smile formed itself.

* * *

Almost lazily the dragon flapped his wings to stay aloft, observing the world around him through clouded eyes. Inside he still felt enraged as he had never been before. The small pests, after his first strike, were all around him but kept themselves at bay nevertheless. Like a swarm of locusts they had descended upon him, but his sharp claws had made short work of the vanguard. Cowardly creatures, they now flew around him for other victims, leaving the dangerous work for others. He was now looking at one of those others, while a second hovered behind him. In tandem they hoped to stop him, if he attacked either like this the other would attack his back. 

"Big boy, why don't you settle down," the Lady Devimon in front of him ordered. They were underestimating him still he though, unable to stop a smirk from forming on his face. But with his knifelike teeth partially exposed it looked more like a snarl. To them he looked like nothing more than a ravenous beast, something he was, he wouldn't deny it. Not with all those gory images in his head and the power driving him on. But he could still think and that was how he would take them down.

Flexing his claws he looked ready to charge the woman in front of him and she prepared herself accordingly. But then he suddenly changed direction and flew up rapidly. The Evilmon above him squeaked in panic and tried to get away. They couldn't, their kin above them blocked their path up and they couldn't go down or sideways either. Aero V-dramon tore into them, using claws, teeth, his tail and just about everything else, even other Evilmon.

The Lady Devimon only hesitated briefly and then flew up after him, coming closer together as they did so. Their mistake, he thought, immediately going into a nosedive, catapulting himself down so fast the woman who had hovered expectantly in front of him before had no chance to prepare herself for the collision. Within a split second they both hurdled down, away from her support and into his advantage.

With his weight and momentum and her body below him, they hid the marble floor hard, cracking the tiles and making an ugly indention into the previously smooth floor. All the Lady Devimon's breath was expelled forcible by the impact, leaving her momentarily dazed. That moment was all Aero V-dramon needed to plunge a clawed hand through her face. Her body scattered into useless fragments and unlike before he felt pleased at seeing someone delete in that hellhole. She never cried out, just like his friends held their silence and died with dignity she too went silently. Only in her case that was probably because she lost the head to do anything. Exhilarated he threw back his head and roared. Above, the other Lady Devimon looked distinctly unwell, trying to command the horde of Evilmon to attack the dragon, but remaining unsuccessful to get through to them.

* * *

Antiramon did not possess the dragon's blast of destruction, nor did his appearance inspire as much terror as his blue scaled companion did. Nothing stopped the Evilmon from surging down upon him and tear him limb from limb. Nothing, except those limbs. He spun himself around, focusing himself to keep from getting dizzy and disoriented, his overly large arms flailing about. At first he just kept them as they were, clubbing the attackers when they came close. Sometimes they cut themselves to pieces on his nails, a far better result since they couldn't strike him again. It was pure logic that made him mutter one of his attack names to change each of his arms into an axe for optimal damage. 

As with the dragon the swarm learned the hard way to avoid him and then the two Lady Devimon came. Like him they transformed their arms into weapons, spikes in their case, and attacked. Around them the Evilmon still flew around, creating a spherical arena just for them, blocking out all else that was going around but staying at a safe distance themselves.

Antiramon blocked both strikes coming his way and with his strength pushed them away, but not for long.

They came again, one slashing low, the other high, hoping to catch him off guard. It was only because he was expecting a dirty trick that he blocked them before they got too close. With a slight dismay, quickly put down by the excitement of a challenge, he realized they were faster than he was. In time, if he let them, they would drag him down. They knew it too and darting away low and high began circling him. Antiramon watched for a moment, then picked one and charged. The Lady Devimon held her ground as he descended upon her with both axes crossed in front of him and they collided.

With a grunt she blocked the killing blow with her spiked arm, the two of them floating down to the Evilmon. The other woman charged also, her spike aimed to gut the rabbit. Easing up on pushing the other down, he kicked her and leapt away sideways, only narrowly avoiding the gutting strike.

The black garbed woman let her companion fall down, but flew up herself.

Antiramon lashed out, but hit only air while the two Lady Devimon regrouped across from him, laughing viciously to taunt him. At least, that's what he thought first but then the Evilmon behind him, left ignored too long, clawed at him. Too many and too close, he couldn't turn around fast enough. Though weaker than him, they could still kill him if they got him.

Then they exploded, the shock pushing him a bit forward, and through the smoke a small ball streaked, gone as fast as he had come. Antiramon grinned, grateful for the chance he had gotten, and attacked the two women with renewed fervour. Only this time he would also pay attention to the smaller foes.

Metal Mamemon was having considerably more luck than his larger friend, his small body and speed made him a very difficult target. Unlike the others he was not confined to a small area, using instead the entire cavernous room as a battleground. The world was a blur around him, but that didn't matter. All the Evilmon kept so close together and there were so many of them you didn't need sight to hit them.

Rinkmon was also using his speed, skating off across the floor to gain speed and then jumping up to slice the first of the Evilmon that reached him. Keeping up with is speed he skated up the flow of hairy creatures, killing them under foot. When the scattered, hoping to let him fall, he vaulted off the last one he got and leaped out of harm's way, dashing off as soon as he hit the ground again.

Stronger, slightly, though with far less speed, Grizzmon was pushed back against a wall, unable to keep the Evilmon off of him otherwise. Out of all of them he was having the worst of it.

* * *

Lilithmon looked into the burning red eye in front of her, horrified to the core. The smile taunted her, made her go cold all over. Away, anywhere but here, that was all she could think about. Yet she didn't move, unable to focus on anything except that eye and that smile. Not even the battle waging all around them, not even the death of one of her attendants, nothing mattered. She could only look at the face of something that couldn't be. The face of a boy still held tightly in her arms. 

"What's the matter?" he said softly.

As if those words broke the trance, she suddenly reared back. Taking her hands of the boy, breaking their embrace, she rose to her full height. In any other situation she would have never scurried back those few meters, but there was no helping it.

Ryo stood leisurely, though slightly turned away from her, still eying her with his red eye. The one that remained blue stared off unseeingly into oblivion. Lilithmon breathed heavily, trying desperately to control herself. Her arrogance, a trait long nourished, resurfaced quickly enough now that she had some distance between herself and the human boy. A boy, she thought, no matter the power he had he was still just a human mortal boy.

He smiled contemptuously still and slowly raised his right arm in front of him, as if to offer her what he held there. It was a pale slender thing, a part of something she knew to be beautiful. It was an underarm, the hand attached to it hanging limply down.

"Missing something?" Ryo asked smugly, the corners of his mouth rising even further. Feeling strangely detached she looked down at herself, from her shoulder to her upper arm down to the stump at its end. Ryo took a step forward just as she took a staggering step back.

Again she looked back at her severed arm in his hand. Without warning the paleness started to turn grey and then black. A slender lump of blackness where no separate parts like fingernails could be detected anymore. They both knew what would happen next, the arm fell apart like ashes. With a simple wave of his hand the boy scattered the fragments in front of him and he smiled even more wickedly.

"Phantom Pain!" She screamed out, her voice no longer calm and restrained. The smugness and dominance she had before were mere memories in her anguish. Thrusting her remaining hand forward she let wave upon wave of cold darkness descend upon the one who had ruined her. But he just stood there and let her, smiling now as if amused by the antics of a small child. Her attack was a fragment of what she was capable of, her wrecked body had weakened her. Even so, it should have been more than enough for a child.

"My dear," he shook his head, "that didn't work the fist time when you held me close, what makes you think it would be different now?"

"W-who are you?" She demanded.

"Don't you know? I'm just a battery," he mocked, stepping closer once more. Lilithmon hastened to keep a distance between them, the situation getting more and more out of control.

"But you!" He suddenly shouted, the mocking smile turning into a vicious snarl. With a start she thought she liked his contempt better than his anger. His entire face became murderous and even his deadened eye gave a violent twitch.

"Who the hell are you? Who are you to touch this body and claim it as your own?" Ryo bit off darkly, closing the distance as if it wasn't there, getting closer no matter how far she backed up. In his voice she could now hear a low bass that wasn't there before.

"Across infinite time and innumerable dimensions, this body has always been mine no matter what others have tried. It's futile to stand in the way of destiny. Allow me to demonstrate."

He looked her deeply in the eyes then and she stopped backing away. Almost with a flourish he turned sideways, whipping an arm he held in front of him back in a vicious slash. As if in mortal agony his right eye clasped shut and trembled, but his left eye burned even brighter. Not just the pupil, but the entire eyeball was aflame, light spilling out over the sides. His mouth moved, saying something though no sound was forthcoming. No sound, no movement, for just the briefest of instances nothing happened. Then all things staggered in the air and began to fall down. A dome of pressure spread towards the countless creatures blowing them against the walls. Many were not fortunate enough to survive.

Lilithmon's foot brushed against the bottom step of the stairs to the balcony, unaware that she had tried to get further away. Caught off guard she tripped and landed roughly against the stairs, the stump that was her right arm stinging especially painful. But she didn't make a sound, no one dared, though many painful outcries could not be held in.

The boy swaggered briefly before regaining himself and returned to face her, looking very triumphant. Aside from a trickle of blood dripping out of his nose he seemed fine.

* * *

Above lightning flashed, thunder still crashed and wind continued to howl in as much contempt and anger as the boy beneath the heavily protected glass. One bolt struck extremely near, bathing the glass in light. When it faded several shapes could have been seen descending rapidly from the clouds, but no one was watching upward. Very few still could. 

"Form up, cross formation!" The lead figure shouted through the clamorous weather, plunging straight down to the glass dome. A tall man, dressed completely in white flowing robes that had the feel of wings. Long blond hair whipped upwards freely from the back of his white and pointed facemask. Two very large wings sprouted from his back, strong wings that could withstand the tumultuous wind that never ceased. Above, below, left and right, two angelic warriors streaked down with him at each side, forming a cross with the white-garbed angel in the centre. They looked like him, only more heavily armed, with a purple helmet and eight smaller wings. Behind them flew several lesser angels, it was all the force he could have gathered in the small timeframe he had to work with.

"When we breach, go for the outsiders. I'll take care of the main anomaly," the white Holy Angemon ordered, the first to crash through the window. He quickly took stock of what was going on, finding Lilithmon and the other with her quick enough he broke formation and flew at them. The other angels went to the mass of fighting bodies splayed all over the place, to assist.

The first thing he noticed when he came close was that Lilithmon was not completely whole anymore and the boy seemed to swell with barely contained power. With dread he had to conclude that perhaps he was too late. Lilithmon had her eyes on him now, a strange mixture of hope and loathing in them. The boy ignored him completely, ranting almost incoherently now.

"Gabriel," she muttered.

"Stop," the angel said, touching down lightly on the marble floor, "you must not continue this."

The boy rounded on him, seeming more collected now that he wasn't ranting anymore. His glowing eye looked him over contemptuously and he shrugged.

"Stay out of this wing-boy," he drawled, smirking now again, "I'm talking to armless over here. Why do you want me to stop, surely you're not here to rescue her, your enemy. She hopes that you will, but look at that loathing in her face, she hates you almost as much as she does me."

Throwing his head back he laughed long and hard, a deep sound reverberating through the chamber.

"I'm not here for her," Gabriel said matter-of-factly, after the bout of uncontrolled laughter from the boy, "I'm here to save you."

That just set Ryo off again, even doubling over now to hold his stomach. Powerful, but also mad, was the impression the angel got from the way the boy expressed himself.

"You, help me?" He smiled, "Do you have any idea who I am?"

"I know who you are, maybe better than anyone else here," Gabriel said, still showing no emotion, "Lilith might have begun to realize it by now though. If she hadn't been consumed by greed, a failing of her kind, sad really, she might have figured it out before it was too late."

Ryo nodded sagely at that, making Lilithmon feel even more indignant to see her two enemies agreeing on her flaws. One arm or not, she wasn't going to let them walk completely over her.

"Then you know I don't need help," Ryo said, "But I appreciate the thought, really, so I'll let you walk away."

"I can't do that," Gabriel replied.

"You don't want to become wingless, do you? Just leave," Ryo said firmly.

"I won't leave and I don't think you can make good on your threat either." Ryo's face darkened, the calmness of the angel as well as his confidence was angering him again. His head was pounding furiously.

"You're taxing that body well past its limit, it won't last," the angel concluded. For the first time the boy was aware of his nosebleed. Licking the steady stream almost greedily he savoured the taste.

"This body is strong, it'll hold," he said contently, though his ears were buzzing so loudly he could almost hear nothing else.

The angel spread his arms and wings to the side and seemed to glow with a serene light, sending it out to Ryo.

"You're trying to heal me?" He asked, "How's that going to stop me, you're only making me stronger."

"Yes, I'm healing the body, making it stronger. But I also heal the mind," Gabriel said.

Both angel and demon watched the feverish light in Ryo's left eye flicker on and off, finally setting on a dull red pupil. His shoulders slumped, but his right eye stirred and seemed more alive.

"Who are you?" He asked weakly as if waking from a long sleep, not at all like the overconfident person he was moments before. To Lilithmon he was more like the boy she had tried to provoke into releasing his power by using her Phantom Pain when he was in her arms. He seemed all of a sudden extremely mortal and fragile.

Smiling wickedly she stepped up to them saying, "He's the least of your concerns."

"Excalibur," Gabriel called out strongly, releasing a purple energy blade from his wrist. He stood between her and the boy, keeping the tip of his sword aimed at Lilith's throat.

"Ryo, my name is Gabriel; I'm here to help you," he said tersely.

Now Lilithmon chuckled, "Gabriel, I'm not as weak as I may seem. I'll give you some advice, though you may have heard it before. Leave or you may become Wingless."

Suddenly he pulled his wings back and immediately two golden rods flew out against her. Ryo gave no sign when two angels brushed past him and attacked Lilithmon, nor when the Holy Angemon retracted his blade and hoisted him up.

"Phantom Pain," Lilithmon said and the two Angemon screamed out in pain, convulsing violently before deleting. But by then her prey was flying back from where he came, a shining beacon of light while healing the boy during their flight.

"Retreat!" Gabriel shouted back to his remaining forces. A deafening roar came from beneath. Spreading his wings the blue Victory dragon flew up after the angels with Metal Mamemon shooting past even him in pursuit.

Antiramon landed near Grizzmon and Rinkmon where the two had made their stand together after the rough push everyone had received. Slapping both of them just hard enough, he forced them to devolve. Taking their smaller forms in each of his hands he too made his escape.

"After them," Lilithmon ordered, "Kill them all!"

* * *

Gabriel grimaced; the flight was not going well at all. He was still healing the boy, but doing so made it impossible to make good speed. Worse, the boy's partners were doing their utmost to shoot him out of the sky. 

Banking hard to the right he was just able to avoid a blue streak of energy, then he was forced to drop several meters from an orange plasma bolt shot. Flying upside down for a moment he looked at what was following him. The three partners that achieved Perfection level were kept mostly from him by the remains of his men, but while his angels were under orders not to harm them, the same did not go for the other side. Fortunately only Aero V-dramon and Metal Mamemon were putting up a fight, Antiramon just flew after them without doing anything. Behind even them a dark swarm came up rapidly with a few Lady Devimon at the lead.

"You're dead," Ryo snarled, his red eye burning feverishly with red light again. Every time that power flared the partners also became more ferocious, but it faded quickly again. If he wasn't healing the boy and at the same time restraining him, they wouldn't have stood a chance.

"Break!" He called out. Finally seeing what he was going for he swooped down while the others stopped trying to restrain the other digimon.

He and a pair of Holy Angemon landed on top of a large grey slate of stone with a narrow slit running through the middle. Putting Ryo on the ground they all turned to look at the frightening countenance of Aero V-dramon, hovering steadily in front of them.

"Move…away," he growled, as if speaking was unfamiliar to him.

Ignoring him the three angels bathed the boy in their healing light, using their full power. Time was of the essence, the demons were nearly upon them. Ryo coughed violently, but his eyes were both blue again.

"What's happening?" He asked, his head was still fuzzy. The angels did not let up, not before the three perfection level digimon shone too and devolved back, looking as disoriented as Ryo.

"Now to get you out of here," Gabriel said.

* * *

Night had already fallen, but Ryo's group still had not returned. Piccolomon paced back and forth in front of the door down in the dungeons, the one Ryo and his company had gone into and which wasn't the one he had wanted them to take, far from it in fact. 

"I followed your instructions completely," Taichi had protested when he had found out about the mishap, waving the piece of paper in his face. Before the pixie had even looked at it he already knew what he would find, a forgery.

Now he and the other Chosen were waiting, it was all they could do. Of course they had wanted to go in after them, but he had forbidden it. The place that portal led to was too dangerous, going in for a rescue mission would only accomplish the opposite effect, more losses.

Without warning the door suddenly started to open and tongues of mist blew out. A huddle of shapes became visible, undefined and blurry, before breaking through the barrier of mist that was the gateway.

Turuiemon, looking dishevelled, eyed the crowd in front of him dispassionately, though they all gasped when they saw him supporting Ryo. Wordlessly he stepped aside and propped the boy against the wall. With Tsukaimon and Bearmon second to follow through he stood between Ryo and the gathered group. Finally V-mon and Thundermon came out, closing the door behind them.

"Ryo-chan? What happened to you?" Mimi asked distressed.

"I don't know," V-mon answered slowly, sarcastically, "we survived the fourth round, what does it look like?"

The emphasis on 'survived' and the absence of two friends caused an uncomfortable silence between the two groups, a silence V-mon broke, obviously quite angry.

"Look at him," V-mon pointed to Ryo, sitting against the wall barely able to keep his eyes open, "he nearly died today and Meramon and Sorcerymon weren't that lucky. What kind of test was this, what kind of tournament are you running?"

"What happened today was a mistakeppi," Piccolomon said.

"A mistake?" V-mon growled, "You call what happened to us a mistake? We. Were. Doomed. If not for those angels rescuing us from that hag Lilithmon, we wouldn't be standing here. They were just in time to get Ryo out of her filthy clutches, when he was already knocked out! Look at him!"

The atmosphere was tense as V-mon relayed them his recollection of events, strangely they were off from what really happened. Their evolution, and battle, he could not remember any of it, nor could the others. Although Tsukaimon vaguely recalled seeing a ferocious blue dragon with wings, he paid it no further mind nor did he mention it to anyone. Neo and Jyou were trying to get to Ryo, but his group blocked the way.

"The instructions got switched somehow during the attack this morning," Taichi spoke up, "I'm sorry."

"We fought them off of course," Yamato said, "And we've been waiting for you here ever since then."

"Ever since, that's not much is it. Not that much time has gone by," Turuiemon bit off.

"Actually," Mimi said after some hesitation, "It is evening now, almost the entire day has gone by."

"There's a time difference between the two realmsppi," Piccolomon explained.

"What! So you do know what's behind that door," V-mon shouted, "And you've had hours more time than we had, why did you not do something like come after us, if you knew it was a mistake and everything else."

"It was too dangerous to do soppi," Piccolomon said unfazed. His relationship with V-mon had always been bad, so he was used to tantrums like this. Though he did wonder if this time things would go too far, there was a smell to the blue lizard, and the others, that shouldn't be there. He could not place it, but he knew it was off.

V-mon snorted, "You bet it was dangerous. But what is the loss of one little group right? You've got tons more."

"This tournament is important, we couldn't just throw all their lives awayppi."

"To hell with this tournament," V-mon now snarled.

"Please let us through," Jyou sighed.

"We're not going to hurt him," Neo added, "We just want to get him above ground, and to his room for rest. You know we would never see harm come to him."

"He actually still needs to fight in the match with Yamato and Gabumon, but I suppose-" Piccolomon said, mostly to himself before being interrupted.

"He's lying like the dead and you dare mention your forsaken tournament!" V-mon roared, "Fine!"

Resolutely he marched up to Gabumon, who watched him come in surprise, to plant a mean right hook in his unprotected face. The furred dinosaur fell back, unconscious, with V-mon panting angrily above his prone form.

"Gabumon!" Yamato exclaimed, going over to cradle his partner's body.

"There, I won, happy?" V-mon turned, ignoring all shocked spectators. Only a few looked pleased, but all of them had just come from hell. Grinning evilly, Turuiemon beckoned for the two boys to help him carry Ryo out. Supporting the boy on two sides Jyou and Neo followed the rabbit back out, flanked and followed by his other partners. Only V-mon stayed behind.

"If he wasn't so exhausted right now we would've left straight off. This tournament means nothing to us and we've been played for far too long," V-mon addressed Piccolomon and the Chosen, "This whole thing can go to hell, but we will no longer go with it."

* * *

In a well lit room, made completely from white marble, from the floor to the walls and pillars, a dark clad figure sat on a high throne, looking out of place in the pristine environment. A red carpet ran from the gold-inlayed door to the raised steps of the dais that held her seat. 

Lilithmon flexed the claws on her new arm, a metallic appendage that was far stronger than her original arm, but not as pretty.

"One day I'll make him pay for this," she muttered before the door slammed open and a tall figure entered unannounced.

"Who dares-" she started, but her breath caught in her throat when she saw who it was. Heavy boots, white with golden ornaments leading up and over the knee, tapped resolutely on the floor as he walked up. His upper legs were covered with a fine black material, also with golden ornaments. Above even that he wore a white body suit with gold, culminating in a golden solar disk on his chest, a mockery of the light since he now stood for darkness. At least in the eyes of his enemies he did. His arms and shoulders were adorned with a black jacket. Piercing blue eyes stared into her own and then trailed down to her claw. When she saw that she quickly slid down a long sleeve to hide it in.

"My Lord," she hastened off the throne, meeting him halfway down the room, "You've awakened."

The powerful Lucemon, Lord Lucifer, took her new arm in a vice grip, taking out of her hiding spot.

"I was planning to make you give a full report on your doings," Lucifer spoke silkily, in sharp contrast to the rough examination of her upper arm, "but what I found when I awoke spoke for itself. You made no headway at all; we're still at a stalemate with the angels, though that was not unexpected."

Still a bit emotionally unbalanced she couldn't help but frown in annoyance, startled she immediately tried to look natural but it already to late. Lucifer only smirked and pushed her away, making her feel even more like a failure. In several quick steps he was seated on his throne.

"You've really done it this time," he continued, "humiliated and mutilated by a mere boy, loss of your attendants by mere upstarts, allowing Gabriel to waltz around like he owns the place, losing your captive to said angel and allowing them to escape."

With every point he raised a finger and at the end he shook his head in disdain.

"But no matter, I will make sure your failures will not be our undoing."

"Yes, my Lord," Lilith said grudgingly.

"Now then, round up my generals, it's time we showed our brethren upstairs just what we think of trespassing."

"Yes, my Lord," Lilith bowed, then turned to leave.

"Oh, and Lilith?" He said, smiling widely. Though she couldn't see it, she could feel it. He looked momentarily at his own right arm, and recalled how vain his second in command actually was.

She did not turn, dreading what he would say. "Yes?"

"That new arm suits you."

* * *

As dark and turbulent the world below the storm clouds was the world above was light and ordered. Several large islands, completely covered by pristine white buildings, floated in a blue sky above the rolling dark mass below. In their world there were only two places safe from the scorching thunder, above the clouds or below ground. Of the two the sky was preferred, but with limited living space and differing philosophies of the realm's inhabitants, conflict was unavoidable. The angels, ruled over by a council led by the High Chancellor Dominimon, had more superior forces. Superior troops only went so far though, since the demons held greater numbers. In a strike that had put the demon's leader Lucifer, formerly one of them, into a regenerative slumber that should have lasted nigh on forever, a relative status-quo had been achieved, a peace that had now been broken. 

Two angels, un-armoured and dressed in white, walked resolutely down one of the many pathways crossing through and alongside a flourishing garden. The garden was the largest in a cluster of three islands, surrounded completely by the palace, which had been built around it. The palace spread around the entire isle, the largest of the three. A work of art, but one that could still be defended if it was attacked, with the denizens below the clouds they could afford nothing else. Both of the other landmasses were barracks for the angels.

"Extraction was successful," Gabriel reported, "but I'm afraid it wasn't in time. I also lost several of my Angemon and a Holy Angemon during the strike."

"Regretful," the Dominimon said, "And worse yet the turmoil might have woken Lucifer. If that's the case, then we are at war once again."

"This would not have happened if we had finished what we started when we temporarily took out Lucifer. They are vast in numbers, but also greatly dependant on the few generals they have. Without them the demons are nothing but animals, many can't even fly."

"You and I know this," Dominimon replied, "but the Council voted to abstain from any hostilities after what they perceived as a threat was neutralized. They still believe in peaceful solutions. However with this news we have no choice but to mobilize our forces once again. You and I must convince them of this necessity."

"Yes sir," Gabriel nodded.

* * *

Pleased with the day's events the Master walked in a darkened room, his footsteps resounding on the cold stone beneath and echoing through the many empty corridors of the deepest dungeons. He had come there more times than he cared to remember, but even if he hadn't there was no way to miss the change to it or its temporary inhabitant. The walls seemed somewhat blue instead of grey and the crystal in the centre gave off more of its blue light than it had before. He looked carefully at the dark shape inside the crystal, at the two dragonheads that were attached to each other. He was particularly pleased to see red slits on one of them; soon both heads would fully waken and he wouldn't have to come down there again. 

**

* * *

Author's Notes:**

A new chapter after a very long wait, but it couldn't be helped and given my record so far shouldn't really have come as a surprise.

Now to address a few small things.

First, I now have a Livejournal which I'll use to answer questions or to respond to reviews, should that be necessary (probably not). It should work a lot better than doing it in an A/N in the next chapter, since the spacing between them can get rather big. It can be found by follow the link in my user profile, which I've also updated for the first time ever. I'd put the link here, but quickedit just ruins it.

Secondly, for something in this chapter: Gabriel, the white Holy Angemon. His appearance is based on Lord Holy Angemon from the V-Tamer manga. He's not a new kind of digimon, or a special version of the regular Holy Angemon. The difference between him and the others is that he isn't wearing his battle gear. This can only really happen if a Holy Angemon evolves to such a level naturally and not by a Chosen powered evolution since those only occur in combat situations.

**Translations: Japanese to English:**

Antiramon - Antylamon

Evilmon - Vilemon

Holy Angemon - Magna Angemon

**Next Chapter:**

The final day of the tournament has arrived and Ryo learns in a harsh manner that nothing was as it had appeared to be. Faced with the true threat his trials led up to he'll have to pull out everything to make it through.


	27. The Truth that shattered Peace

**Chapter 26**

**The Truth that shattered Peace**

* * *

Ryo's log: August 2000, Piccolomon's coliseum, Digiworld.

NO ENTRY FOUND

End log

* * *

Inside a small chamber of black stone and very little light Ryo sighed deeply. Once again he was trapped in the darkness of a place with no exit and no real discernible features aside from a pile of rubble in the centre, rubble that used to be a sarcophagus before it had been destroyed from the inside out. Being back there had to mean he was having another nightmare, though it couldn't get much worse than the day he just had. Frustrated he gave on of the rocks a hard kick and watched it crash into a wall with a hollow bang and an equally hollow sense of accomplishment.

"Temper, temper," a voice said with amusement from somewhere behind him. Ryo had been certain no one was there when he'd previously looked, but still he wasn't surprised. Actually he had expected the voice to show up and it had, just like the last time, and the time before that, all the way back to the first nightmare. He had experienced recurring dreams before, but this was getting out of hand. It didn't even feel like a dream anymore.

"Congratulations, you figured it out," the familiar voice, his voice, mocked.

"Spare me," Ryo said dryly while turning to face the speaker. Standing against the wall Ryo could only make out his silhouette, but that was enough. He had no desire to look into his own face right now, if the other boy was even wearing his face.

"No, I'm not curious," Ryo said, anticipating the question before it had even come, making the other laugh. Unlike the mocking sniggers he usually used he seemed genuinely amused this time. It reminded him of how he used to laugh, but he was no longer in the mood for that.

"So," Ryo continued, "What do want to talk about this time?"

"Sacrifices dear boy, sacrifices, but that shouldn't really come as a surprise to you should it?"

"Not really," Ryo answered. This was a nightmare, so of course it would show him the kind of things he didn't want to think about.

"How do you feel Ryo?" The other asked, "Lost? Angry? Betrayed?"

"Right now I feel nothing," Ryo answered honestly.

"Understandable, you're suppressing your emotions so you can focus on the task appointed to you. Like a good little subordinate, following orders for the almighty, righteous, greater Good."

Ryo kept silent while the other continued. For the moment the lecturing of the hidden figure was better than another encounter with a skeletal claw, though for all he knew that would still come later.

"For the greater good sometimes sacrifices must be made. The good of the many outweigh the needs of the few and other such rhetorical nonsense. For it is nonsense Ryo, you realize this too. Just look at the deaths of your friends Meramon and Sorcerymon."

"Don't!" Ryo said vehemently, "Don't demean their deaths."

"I had no such intent Ryo," the other boy raised his arms in a warding gesture, "And I couldn't demean it no matter what I tried, for you see, they really had no meaning in the first place. Think about it, what did you actually accomplish there? Nothing, you lost two friends and had to run with your tails between your legs. If the greater good was really served you would never have gone there and your friends would be with you now to continue the good fight."

Ryo frowned.

"You've heard it from Piccolomon, yesterday was a mistake. But think Ryo, was it really a mistake or were you sent there on purpose by Piccolomon? Remember what Taichi said? Your gracious host believes that either you or he will win the tournament, but you are an outsider while Taichi is his favourite. He's trained the boy before and it would bring him great honour if his boy would win. You are the unknown, you are the ringer, and you are not one of them."

"They wouldn't do something like that, they wouldn't lie to me," Ryo replied, "You on the other hand are a different story."

"But of course, but this isn't about me it's about you," the other boy continued seriously, "And you do believe me, at least on some level. We are the same you and I after all. There's something off about this tournament, things like the battles after your tests don't add up. There are not enough Chosen around to make this an ordinary ladder-tournament, so there have to be different rules. Have they told you those rules Ryo? No? Now why would that be I wonder?"

"If you're trying to make me doubt them it won't work. You're right that I feel that I don't completely fit in with them, but they've been through a lot together and only just met me. It's the same with them and my group."

The other boy nodded, "Yes, you have a group of your own; the friends you made on your journey and who you can trust and confide in. Not that you do much confiding, but at least they're there. But for how long, Piccolomon is already thinning out your members. When you are alone you'll be so much easier to manipulate by them, don't you think?"

"Now you sound like V-mon," Ryo laughed, "he doesn't like Piccolomon either."

"Don't compare me with that lizard," the other said darkly.

"Don't try your little mind games on me," Ryo warned back, his voice as threatening as the other's.

"And why not dear boy, what else is there to do but play games in this shared mind of ours. Though you do your best to keep me out when you're awake you can't do a thing against me while you're asleep, while we are both asleep.

But these are not just games, they are the truth. The same truth you can't dare let yourself face, so I'll have to do it for you. You have no friends Ryo, only people who wish to use you. It's been so ever since you came here."  
"Shut up," Ryo bit back, feeling angrier and angrier by the second. Thoughts of just lunging forward and ripping the impostor limp from limp crossed his mind and he knew it was wrong. He swallowed hard, his throat getting dry even though it was only a dream. The rational part of him wondered if it was because he was getting thirsty in his sleep, he hadn't had much to drink as far as he could recall.

"Everyone wants to use you, Gennai wanted you to fight Millenniumon so no one of importance to him would have to, Piccolomon wants you to fight the so-called renegade Holy Beasts, Ken wants you to keep him safe even though we both know that didn't work out, V-mon wants you to give him your energy for evolving while his real partner is absent. You haven't forgotten that he's not your real partner now, have you? And the list goes on and on."

"Shut up," Ryo said, turning his back to the shadowed form and balling his fists.

"You're angry now, at me. But that anger is misplaced. I don't want to use you; I just want you to realize the truth."  
Ryo gave a barked laugh, "The truth again, but that's only your version of the truth isn't it?"

"You're right Ryo, the truth is highly subjective and mine is no different. But you'll find that my truth, no matter how much it may hurt you, is much more honest than the one of your so-called friends."

"Why do you try so hard to separate me from them?" Ryo asked.

"Why do you try so hard to defend them even though they don't deserve it?" The other countered, "What have they done but send you out on dangerous assignments alone all in the spirit of testing? Couldn't it simply be that they just want you to do their dirty work? Some praise here, some glory there and off Ryo goes again into the unknown for them. Real good work there, boy, real good."

"Shut up, I don't need to hear any of this!" shouted Ryo, his head abuzz with enraged emotions. It felt oddly familiar, and yet it was so unlike him that is was actually a bit terrifying, but he couldn't calm down.

"But you do and I won't leave until you face facts! You aren't like them and they don't like it. You are like me; you are me, a force that can not be bound. You feel it now as you felt it when you were assaulted by that whore in black, that righteous rage that burns away everything but the need to fight, the need to rule."

"What are you talking about?" Ryo bit back.

"You don't remember what happened, but that doesn't matter. You don't need to know, you don't want to know. Because it's the truth and you can't handle it, can you? Better to remain in the dark and follow orders, you like following orders don't you? Like a good little soldier, a good little slave, you do what you are told."

"That's not," Ryo started to say, but he couldn't get another word in.

"You know what you are Ryo; you know what they made you become? You're nothing more than a drone, their personal killing-machine!"

"No!" Ryo thundered, not noticing that the other's shape had subtly changed in the shadows behind him. Recklessly he whipped around and crossed the distance between them. His punch to the other's face landed unobstructed and as it fell back he was ready to continue his assault. But he stopped cold when instead of himself he saw a girl fall to the ground in pain. Nursing a painful looking bruise on her face Mimi looked up at him.

"Didn't I tell you, Ryo-chan, that you can't win a girl's heart with strength alone? You can be so much more my valiant warrior, but you let yourself be restricted by orders. Orders that only make you a killer, the same kind of monster you're fighting so desperately against," Mimi said tearfully, looking up at the boy who hit her with fear and regret.

It was a nightmare, he knew that it was only a dream, but the girl looked so real and so did the bruise he gave her. The rage that had fuelled him was gone again and now he felt only empty.

* * *

That morning the atmosphere was tense, which shouldn't have come as a surprise after what had occurred, the tragedy and the near-total disaster. However the brooding ambience seemed more than just that, something more tangible and grounded in reality and not just as a shadow of doubt in the minds of the people there. Doubts, he certainly had a lot of them, Ryo thought as he sat on the pile of rubble caused by the fight with Yashamon. From there he could overlook the arena floor and the outside world. Not that what he saw gave him any solace, the world outside the coliseum's walls seemed to mirror his feelings rather well. Mornings there were bright, the promise of a new day under the sun and in the light. But today was different; the sky was not blue but a rolling mass of dark grey. Tumultuous storm clouds had drifted in somewhere during the night, though when exactly he couldn't tell. Exhaustion had kept him in his nightmares for the entire night and most of the morning. And when he had gotten out of bed his friends, his digimon team, wouldn't leave him alone. They were worried about him, but all he wanted was to be left alone, alone to think for a while.

His gaze drifted back down from the swirling grey mass above to the arena floor below, several times he had fought on the sandy ground with V-mon and their teamwork had made them triumph every time. For a while he had actually been feeling rather good about himself, the new guy who was just as good, if not better, than the senior Chosen. But after yesterday, he was beginning to doubt again, aware of all the mistakes that he had made along the way and wouldn't be able to rectify. Ken was one and now Sorcerymon and Meramon were too, the latter two were dead and the former in a coma. His friends had died because they followed him, because they actually believed that he could do something they couldn't. They'd remind him that Millenniumon was beaten because of him, but that victory was overshadowed with his inability to protect his young friend. They'd remind him that the greater good was what mattered, not the lives of a few. But it was still he who had sent those lives to their graves and no matter how logical it seemed or how necessary it was, it wasn't easy. He frowned, it wasn't supposed to be easy, but would there ever be a time when he just didn't care anymore? That had already happened with killing other digimon, the revulsion he had felt after his first kill had diminished with every successive one till it didn't gave him pause anymore. Ryo shuddered; he had even felt elation at killing a living being at one point, though it could be argued that the Nanomon deserved it where did it leave him? Perhaps his nightmares weren't so far off the mark, he had become a killer.

Ryo slowly got up from his perch atop the rocks, not because the seating was too uncomfortable, he hardly took notice of something trivial as that, but because a threesome of people had just entered the arena floor. It wouldn't be long for them to notice him sitting there and he had no desire to speak with any of them just yet. They'd need him to fight again for them sooner or later and he knew that he probably would. Every single time, otherwise the sacrifices along the way would be meaningless, wouldn't they? But how long could he keep that up, how far would the greater good demand that he go?

* * *

Piccolomon hovered above the sand of the arena's base, his fairy-like wings beating in the stale air. Right now it was supposed to be sultry, but the changed weather phenomena weren't what he was concerned about. From the corner of his eyes he watched the brunet retreat back inside his home through the ravaged wall.

The two Chosen with him didn't give any indication that they'd notice Ryo leaving, but that was probably just as well. The subject of Ryo was a tender one right then, one that could collapse in on itself at any moment. Things were quickly spiralling out of control; the tournament that was supposed to keep everything running smoothly to the desired conclusion had been subverted. The attacks, the misdirection, it all pointed to the fact that their enemy had a lot more influence than they'd originally thought possible. And now they were running out of time and options.

"This is wrong," Taichi said stubbornly. From the beginning the boy had been against what they were attempting, but he understood that they had a need to do so; perhaps the greatest of needs since the Digital Gods had called upon humans to help protect their world.

"I have to agree, what do we gain from this last round?" Yamato said, "Aren't we already running out of time?"

Piccolomon sighed, he could see where the boys were coming from, but like them he had his orders, "We need him for this, only him. But after what has happened we need to see if he's still able to fight-ppi."

What he didn't say, and couldn't say, was what he would have to do if Ryo could no longer fight. They needed Ryo if they were going to win, but likewise their enemy was bound the same way. That gave them a second option, a final resort against the enemy that could walk all over them. One life for the world was a small price to pay.

Ryo, he thought, for all our sakes, but most especially yours, please be able to fight.

* * *

More than anything he just wanted to leave right then, to follow up on his partner's threats and go straight back to Gennai's dwelling to spend all of his time at his friend's sickbed. Ryo hardly noticed where he was going; one dark hallway seemed the same as another. The arena was huge, just yesterday it had housed a battle between two large groups of digimon with place to spare, but the battlegrounds weren't the only thing of large sizes, the insides were as well. He had never noticed before, but in the gloom the coliseum's many passages weren't much different from a dungeon, not that dissimilar at all from Lilithmon's domain. It hadn't much seemed like it at first, but over the days a hostile atmosphere had snuck in, or maybe it had already been there but he was too thick-headed to notice.

"Are you feeling better?" he heard a soft-spoken voice say. Though he had gone on a walkabout to avoid contact with the others he had found it nonetheless. For a moment he considered giving a quick reply or just move on, but he recognized the voice's owner and she didn't deserve such treatment. She stood behind him; somehow he had just passed her by without noticing.

"I'm alright," he said to her, seeing that she was alone too when he turned to face her. It shouldn't have surprised him, but it did nonetheless. He no longer felt comfortable there, but there was no reason for the others to feel like he did. They'd been there before, they knew Piccolomon and they had each other to fall back on.

"I wanted to talk to you alone," Hikari answered, as if reading the unspoken question on his face. She went to stand next to him before both continued to walk. Talking seemed to come easier while they were on the move and not constantly facing each other.

"What happened yesterday, are you really alright with it?" She asked.

"Does it matter?" He replied truthfully, "It has happened, nothing can change that now."

"Yes, but are you alright with it?"

"They were my friends," Ryo answered, unsure of where the younger girl was going with her question and whether he really wanted to give her his answers.

"We lost friends too, even before I first came here," Hikari said, "His name was Wizarmon, he sacrificed himself for Tailmon and me so we could defeat Vamdemon. Without him we would have been killed. It was the first time someone died for my sake."

Ryo stayed silent, he was sure she wasn't just bringing up her own losses for him to say he was sorry to hear it.

"At first, it made me really sad," she continued, "But later, though it was still sad, it also made me feel happy."

"Happy?" Ryo asked, wondering if the girl was just jerking his chain or if she had lost her mind. It reminded him of his own doubts, if he would be able to stay himself despite the hardships on his way. He no longer looked at killing with the same revulsion as before, but had it already gone a step further for the younger girl? Had she, despite looking like a normal child, actually become so distanced from losses that she was warping that sense of loss into something else?

"Happy," she said, "Happy that someone could care that much about you to even sacrifice themselves for your sake, just so you could go to another day with a smile. I'm sure that your friends felt the same way about you, so, you shouldn't feel sad but continue your life in happiness."

He wondered about that, they hadn't said anything of the kind at the time. Sorcerymon and Meramon had died so he could live; to fulfil a destiny they had no way of achieving. Was it for friendship, or some sense of obligation? Meramon had said it was in thanks for his assistance in saving his home, Sorcerymon believed he was needed for something important. Ryo said so to Hikari, but she just smiled at him.

"That's just a guy thing isn't it? Why say you're doing something for someone you care about when you can make it seem grander, it's just pride. Haven't you done the same thing?"

She had a point there; he had made some pretty transparent excuses before when he tried to keep Ken out of harm's way. If something happens to me it's up to you to continue the mission, or something like that, was one of the things he had said. In reality he was just trying to keep him safe. Could that have been the case too for his friends, but even so, did that really change anything?

"I suppose that's true," Ryo admitted.

"But, even though Wizarmon died for our sakes, he also did it because he believed that for the greater good it was necessary. Would it really be so bad if your friends felt the same way? If, for the greater good, it was necessary to do something that would hurt you, can you forgive them?"

He didn't know what exactly it was, her words or the tone of her voice, but somehow he was sure she wasn't just referring to either Sorcerymon or Meramon, but to herself. What could she possibly want forgiveness for from him?

* * *

Unfortunately, or maybe it was better that way, he never got the chance to ask her about it. Not long after he had spoken with her he was summoned to the battleground. There he and V-mon stood side by side, opposite of Taichi and Agumon. The last round of Piccolomon's tournament would go between them. With the refusal to participate in any more tests he had expected to be disqualified right then and there, but it seemed the pixie digimon had other plans for him and the victory dragon. Forgoing on any more tests they had gone straight to the final part of the event, and if he speculated about the sudden change of plans he'd reckon that time was running out. Attacks on the coliseum, the change in the weather, it all seemed far too foreboding and not out of the range of abilities of three of the Digital World's Holy Beasts. If he were in charge of them he'd probably have struck against the collection of Chosen much sooner, unless they were somehow unable to. An interesting possibility, but not something he had any time to think about now. Nor did he have much interest to do so, it changed nothing.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" V-mon asked, his resolve to leave the encampment far behind them had unfortunately diminished after a long night, a night of keeping watch over his partner in shifts, though even through the times he was supposed to sleep it had been hard to actually do so. In the field, through taxing trials, he had no trouble of falling asleep but last night it had been different. Worry had been part of it, but at times he had simply felt too aggressive for rest. It had been that rage that had pushed him to threaten the other Chosen after their return, a fury that he could justify, but even so, it had felt foreign. Glares from his companions, after what they had all faced he could truly call them that, had told him they felt the same. Now he felt rested and more at ease and the threat to leave had faded with it. They couldn't leave, not while his world was still in danger, but he left the final decision up to the boy standing next to him. In the end it was he who had the right to chose.

"Yes," Ryo answered simply. That answer, no matter how short or small it was seemed to come as a relief to Piccolomon, though he hid it quickly enough.

Taichi also seemed pleased, "Ryo, it's been a long time since I had to fight seriously like this. This is the final battle, but make no mistake, I'm not going to lose."

"Likewise," Ryo answered as the competitive streak he had found in himself flared up. They were both leaders in their own right and both were considered the most powerful of their groups. For a long time it had been clear that the final round was to be between the two of them. Both boys brought out their digivices, Taichi's old style versus Ryo's newer version, though the difference in design showed no difference in the result. Two powerful forms rose from where the smaller ones had been; a large dinosaur and a powerful dragon.

If either of them expected the fight to go as the ones before they'd have been wrong, there was no difference in abilities, neither of them could fly, nor were they build for real speed. Projectiles weren't going to win either of them victory, not like it had against the flyer Kabuterimon. While Greymon was larger than his opponent the difference in height didn't give him an advantage over the other. This was a battle between equals.

As the two warriors fought the audience increased in size, till almost all the Chosen and digimon occupants were all gathered. Almost all of them, though Piccolomon's eyes were more on the fight in front of him the absence of one of their party was most worrisome and noticeable. It was the last thing he wanted to consider, but there was no doubt in his mind that the coliseum had been infiltrated and a traitor walked among them. Now one was missing and the possibilities didn't reassure him at all, if his suspicions were right and they had a traitor, it would be the first time such a thing had happened. A taint to a heroic legacy and, perhaps, even a sign for a darker future, if they even had one anymore.

* * *

Far below the surface, in the catacombs beneath the coliseum, there was another display of power, one born of conflict of a different kind. No longer faintly lit the room shone with furious intensity, the emissions of energy from the crystal in its centre were reaching its zenith. When that happened, the room, and even the direct environment, would no longer be safe. More than likely they would soon cease to exist.

Standing in the opening of the door, as far away from the crystal while still being in the same place with it, the Master smirked. He couldn't help it, after all the preparations, all of his efforts, he would finally bare witness to the results. The being held inside the blue gemstone had almost fully awakened, a good few weeks after he had found it discarded in a desolate wasteland. The one responsible for leaving it there would soon regret his carelessness.

"It's time," he said and turned his back on the hideout he had selected with care. Hidden within the nest of portals and their own fluxes the build up of another form of energy had not been noticed by the place's occupants. At least not enough to locate the exact position of the source, which had been all he was going for in the first place.

Time was running out and he wanted to be nowhere underground when it did. Together with his trusted associate Renamon he moved back to the surface, the final curtain was about to be raised and he fully intended to be there when it did.

* * *

Above ground the battle between Greymon and V-dramon continued to rage on, though both combatants were showing signs of fatigue neither of them showed any inclination to quit. A heavier wind had begun to pick up, showering the floor with a mist of sand, and then a flash of lightning streaked through the blanket of clouds.

"Enough," Taichi suddenly yelled over the howl of the wind, spitting out pieces of sand that had gotten into his mouth. Surprised at the command the fighters needed a moment to understand what had happened, but then Greymon simply devolved to show his surrender. Taichi's partner didn't even object to the order, though it was clear he could've gone on just as long as V-dramon could.

"What are you doing?" V-dramon roared, feeling cheated of a well deserved victory. But he was feeling the strain of the fight too and followed his opponent's example and devolved. Like Agumon he too panted as he caught his breath, feeling muscles ache he barely knew he had. It wasn't often he got to feel so worked up and it had been very invigorating.

V-mon was about to chastise Taichi about ruining their fight when he noticed the boy with an uncharacteristically serious expression on his face and, even more strangely, a sad one, though that passed quickly.

"Ryo, congratulations," Taichi said, "You're the champion of this tournament and the fighter for the Four Holy Beasts. Though, it was already decided that it would be you, you've been chosen for this since the very beginning."

"Me?" Ryo only barely managed to ask, a chill had begun to worm itself up from the pit of his stomach. Something was horrible wrong right then, something he had only really dealt with in his nightmares. Now it seemed his worries, his inner doubts, weren't so unfounded after all. It was an odd sensation, like plummeting back into the Dark Area only with no portal in sight. Outwardly he took care not to show his deeper feelings.

"Right," Taichi continued, his tone a bit lighter now that it seemed Ryo was taking the deception well. If he was in the other's shoes, who knows, he might have lashed out and he couldn't blame Ryo if he did.

"Didn't you notice? This whole tournament was set up for you, in order to train you, to prepare you."

"In order to strengthen me," Ryo surmised. So it was true, his friends had died and it hadn't even been necessary. If they'd just come forward with the truth instead of playing those dangerous games Sorcerymon and Meramon would still be alive. His nightmares were right, he was being used.

Though he thought he had kept his face expressionless Taichi squirmed uncomfortably, sensing that maybe he wasn't taking things as well as he was leading on.

"The strongest, the worst digimon, is reviving," Taichi said, gesturing to the changed weather, the tempest raging all around them, "We can't win against him, not even the four Holy Beasts stand a chance, the only one who can defeat this enemy is you."

Ryo wondered at those words, the strongest digimon was reviving? A possibility, a very likely scenario, came to him about the identity of this digimon. There was only one digimon in his experience who could be described as the strongest and also fit the part of revival. Only one and he had thought that behind him.

Piccolomon came over, followed by all the other Chosen, all Piccolomon's Chosen he thought with some cynicism. He had never truly belonged with them; he had known it deep inside and with this it only cemented further into his mind. Training he could understand, the need to get stronger he could understand, but why the need for deception, why didn't they ask him outright? Were they afraid he was going to refuse them if they did? It was true he hadn't been exactly psyched to start on his first quest when he had gotten here, but after all he had already done and faced you'd think they'd show a little more faith in him. But it seemed he was wrong about that as well.

"Though the D1-Tournament isn't over, we had to call it short-ppi," Piccolomon said, "Even so, everyone, thank you very much."

The pixie then turned to Ryo, the one who deserved an apology as well as thanks. But the boy could only think of the two friends who'd never hear that apology, would never hear any appreciation. What he also deserved, was an explanation.

"Ryo," Piccolomon continued, "all of this was to train you to your fullest potential, though some things didn't go as planned-ppi. Now the Digital World needs your help once against the awakening evil that is, even now, close by. We can't do anything but prepare you; though our power goes out to you it's you who has to do this. We're certain you'll be the victor, no matter how well your potential may seem hidden-ppi."

At some level Ryo appreciated the trust Piccolomon seemed to hold in him, but he couldn't help but doubt what he was being told this time. He had a hidden potential, apparently, but how much of that was true? Didn't the other Chosen have their own potentials, why did it have to be him all the time? These questions burned in him, unvoiced and unheard.

"The Digital World will be destroyed with the return of the evil king that not even the four Holy Beasts can defeat. The lord of destruction, the only chance we have of beating him, lies with the strength that you possess. A power that surpasses ours."

"Sorry for deceiving you Ryo," Mimi was the first to say to him. He briefly looked at her, but was unable to bear it for any longer than a moment, both the deception as well as the memory of striking her in his nightmare made him look away. His discomfort at looking at the girl remained unnoticed as the next Chosen spoke up. Ryo was glad for it as it gave him sufficient reason to avoid looking at Mimi further.

"You're now the strongest, you have our gratitude," Koushiro said. Gratitude, if those words were meant to placate him they missed their mark. Even though he did appreciate them, Ryo was no longer sure just how heartfelt those words actually were. Others spoke, but he barely registered their words. His eyes fell on Hikari; the youngest girl had no encouraging words for him other than the ones she had uttered in private. Now he knew what she was hinting at, the forgiveness she sought. At that time he didn't know if he could give it.

"You, no, we became strong in spirit," Yamato said, "but in the future the burden you will carry will be greater."

He's not really talking, Taichi thought, taking full notice of the silent visage that faced those gathered around him. At the side the group that had supported Ryo through his trials stood, those that remained, and they did not look happy at all. Ryo's partner, or to be more accurate, temporary partner's stupor quickly turned to anger. If Ryo wasn't going to say anything then the blue lizard would do so in his stead. Taichi had endured many a lecture from Piccolomon on the importance of what they did and while he hadn't agreed he couldn't let things go to complete waste now.

"Ryo, maybe this was a bit rough, I won't deny that, and maybe it was all staged," Taichi implored, "But don't blame the Holy Beasts, it was desperation that drove them to this."

A tremor shook the coliseum from its foundations, another sign of how much their time had run out.

"Everyone," Piccolomon said, addressing the other Chosen, "The final part is coming up, you know what to do-ppi."

Taichi fists clasped at his sides so strongly his knuckles shone white, "I'm sorry, but we have to go."

He then led the others away, away from the arena, away from danger. Piccolomon had already arranged for a portal to take them back home.

Ryo watched them go impassively, surely together they would stand a far better chance against the enemy, but it seemed that he was wrong about that as well. This fight he would have to do alone. He didn't notice that among the deserting kids someone was missing and had been missing for a while.

"Cowards," V-mon hissed, focussing his anger on the only one of the manipulators left, "Why weren't we told of this, why wasn't I told of this!"

For uncountable times he had worked for the Holy Beasts, for Gennai and even the pixie he couldn't stand and in all this time they had never kept things like this from him. The answer though didn't need to be spoken, he already knew it. During the past weeks he had gotten too close to Ryo, almost forgetting that they weren't real partners, and that their teamwork was only of a temporary design. That's why he had not been informed; they had no way of knowing how he would react.

Another stronger tremor shook them. Piccolomon knew it wouldn't be long now.

"Shouldn't you be going as well," V-mon said scathingly.

Piccolomon's answer was simple, "My place is here-ppi,"

* * *

Dreams, they had come to him during his slumber, long by some counts but a mere pinprick in his own reckoning of time. Those dreams had offered a clarity he hadn't known for a very long time, this time in his own reckoning. The object of his desire had been so close there, so very close he could've almost touched it. But as his power had returned so did the continuous and tumultuous cacophony of voices inside his mind. Power now flared from him again, though he had been believed captured, believed to be defeated, his power had only grown.

Four burning red eyes opened fully, staring out into the small chamber through the faces of the crystal that was his prison. No, not a prison, it had never been strong enough for that, but a chrysalis. Nothing could hold him, not the crystal, not the chamber, nothing like that.

"Ryo," the twin-heads spoke as one, how he had longed for this encounter. The last one remained vividly in his memories, how glorious that had been.

* * *

The crystal, shining with barely contained power, burst from the sand, revealing the stone structure beneath as most of it followed it up in the air. The friends could barely remain standing as more and more of the dungeons below burst up. Stands collapsed and walls fell in till the neat arena resembled only the twisted vision of a ruin, distorted beyond recall. If they hadn't been staying there they would have never believed what it had been only moments before.

"Ryo," the dual voice inside the crystal rang out. The boy knew that crystal and he knew that voice, after a desperate struggle he had sealed the remains of the voice's owner inside the blue gem. How he could curse himself now for leaving it behind, but at the time he had been too worried for his young friend to consider what leaving the crystal could mean. By the time he knew it had been too late and it had been gone.

"I have been waiting Ryo, I have revived so that I can defeat you," Millenniumon laughed, a maddening laughter that boomed through the ruins, right down into everyone's souls, "And now that I have revived, no digimon will ever be a threat to me anymore, not even this world's four Holy Beasts can oppose me now."

The derogatory note when he mentioned the Sovereigns clearly showed that he really didn't think them any more than beasts, creatures so far below him they barely deserved mention. If Ryo and the others hadn't been so shocked by the dark god rising they would have noticed the distinctive way the powerful being spoke when referring to the boy.

"But, but you, you are different, the one random element in the cosmic equation that makes the impossible possible," Millenniumon laughed impossibly loud again, no one present dared to interrupt the self-important monologue. The survivors of Tama City knew well that the power this digimon possessed was well beyond theirs, even in that small window of time when he had still only a fraction of the power he had now. Ryo and V-mon too didn't dare make a move, the last time they'd won because of Paildramon, but this time there was no Wormmon to Jogress with. V-dramon, no matter how strong he was for an adult, wouldn't stand a chance at all.

"The world does not need two beings with the same power," Millenniumon said, his speech coming to a close, "Now, let's put our hearts into this battle and fight."

The glow of the crystal hovering above them subtly changed and Piccolomon realized that Millenniumon, now gone even beyond that form into Moon-Millenniumon, wasn't going to waste a moment before attacking. A glance at Ryo told the pixie all he needed to know, after all that was happening in so short a time the boy was overwhelmed. But he believed in him, that if he just got the boy a little time he would surely fight back and he would win. Just a little time, that was all he needed.

"We believe in you Ryo," Piccolomon intoned, "Everyone, attack, for Ryo!"

Without taking a moment to see if his words were heard he flew right at the crystal. Behind him the small band of friends had taken heed of the command, their anger at the deception now overshadowed by the need to do something, anything, to stop the fiend they faced.

"Like lambs to the slaughter," a familiar voice said from behind Ryo, watching as the other boy did how Ryo's team followed the trainer of heroes to a hopeless battle.

* * *

Piccolomon's speed brought him to the crystal in a mere moment, a feat that had startled many opponents in the past, but the entity inside the crystal didn't give any indication that he had noticed. All four of his eyes were locked on the boy they had placed their hopes into. This was not the way he had wanted things to go, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

"Fairy Tale," he called out as a large toy-mallet appeared in his hands. His attack went unobstructed, slamming right in the front of the blue crystal with enough force to destroy several of his coliseum's walls if they had still been standing. He felt, more than that he saw, one of Millenniumon's eyes focus on him for a brief moment. Then his mallet exploded and his vision blurred. It took him some time to realize what was happening, but by then it was too late to stop his rapid descent back down to the ground. A sharp pain started in his back and he knew from the debris around him that he had just been smashed through the stones of his ravaged home. Then everything went black.

Turuiemon saw the puffball flung away with little effort, bringing home again just how strong their enemy really was. The nightmarish battle against his lower form, Chimeramon, came back to him with a vengeance, almost enough to paralyze him right there. Still he kept going, running along a large beam of solid rock, part of the dungeon's supports, that now jutted out of the ground like a ramp. The attack was futile and he knew that even before reaching the deceptively small target.

A flash of light, burning brighter than Turuiemon could remember, streaked through the turbulent sky. Thundermon collided with the blue crystal and for several seconds they both disappeared in an explosion of light. Another loud crash told the purple rabbit all he needed to know of what happened, even before the discharge of power had fully dissipated. Thundermon had channelled more of his destructive power than against any enemy they had faced before, but it had not been enough.

Now a blue skater appeared next to him, using the same ramp to get to where they needed to go. Every since yesterday Tsukaimon had been able to evolve to adult state without much trouble, though his ability to keep himself there were hampered. None of them knew how he had gotten that ability, without a Chosen the only way to evolve was with age. But that didn't matter anymore.

"We strike together," Turuiemon ordered.

The two jumped off the end of the ramp, both poised to strike. Their weapons, claws and skates, both made from some of the stronger metals in the Digital World, didn't even make a scratch. A spirit digimon that now existed without a true physical form, no physical attack regardless of power could harm him.

"Foolish lackeys," Millenniumon grinned, finishing with them the same way as the other two. They were all inconsequential, "Your crude attacks have no effect on me."

* * *

Ryo turned in shock; he had believed the owner of that voice to have left him along with the others. Millenniumon was too strong, he already had been the last time and that power had only increased regardless of the crystal that still served as a seal to his full abilities. But with some help they might still stand a chance. That was what he believed until he looked fully at the boy standing smugly on some debris, looking down at him haughtily. Something was wrong, even more so than the betrayal he had felt from the other Chosen. This was not the expression of an ally nor did the situation warrant any kind of smugness. At least, Ryo thought with some alarm that he was unable to hide from showing on his face, not if you were against Millenniumon. Those piercingly cold eyes had never appeared so hostile before.

"Why?" Ryo asked.

"Look at them," Neo gestured, "They don't stand a chance yet they risk their life to stop the inevitable, fools to the bitter end. You ask me why? It's because I am no fool."

"Traitor," V-mon hissed, "I should have known."

"But you didn't," Neo replied smugly, "I walked beside you and you didn't. I spend time with your partner and you didn't. I poisoned you and you didn't."

Neo laughed, "I send you on your last test and even then you didn't realize it was me."

Fists clenched and his teeth gritted roughly as V-mon started up the pile of debris, but with four loud crashes he turned back to look at their bigger foe. The attack party was gone, leaving only one boy and two child digimon behind to face him. Already the twin-headed dragon was facing their way.

"V-dramon," Neo taunted, "the phantom dragon that burns all in its path with its mighty V-Breath Arrow. But he's only an adult, nothing more, nothing less. With something like that you'll need a miracle in order to win."

Something struck home within Ryo when he heard those words, as so often when he spoke with the white-haired boy, when he had thought them friends, Neo always seemed to dig up some forgotten memory. This time was no different, though not intended by the other boy, and he couldn't help but smirk back.

Neo regarded the change in Ryo with concealed surprise, with all the manipulations he had orchestrated he had believed him to be broken. Or at least impaired enough to keep him from trying anything desperate and, against all odds, succeed in ruining everything. A determined Ryo was what he was secretly hoping for though, that would make his victory all the more sweet after he truly broke him. There was still a lot more left in his arsenal to torment him with.

"A miracle," Ryo said slowly, his voice obviously strained with anger, while his hand slipped behind his back, "I suppose so, Neo. Nothing short of a miracle could help us now."

Neo's face remained impassive right until he saw just what was behind Ryo's back after he had thrust it above his head, his D-Terminal.

"Digimental up!"

At once the golden light of the Digimental of Miracles, its pieces collected during the first weeks Ryo had travelled around the Digital World, washed out of the handheld storage device. Truthfully Ryo had almost completely forgotten about it, never having the need to use it, not even during his first battle against Millenniumon. The stocky form of the egg hovered above the D-Terminal, fully assembled for the first time, and continued to glow, building up the power until it shot out at V-mon in a beam of light.

The familiar feeling of evolution washed over V-mon, but the glow that accompanied it was golden and not blue. His body grew taller, but he didn't gain the bulk of his V-dramon form. Armour, made completely of golden Chron-Digizoid that shone even with the scarce light that broke through the curtain of clouds, formed around him. The holy light of the Digimental suffused his entire being, a state of evolution he had never felt before. He felt even stronger than he had as Paildramon, purer too now that his thoughts were not mingled with another's.

"Magnamon!" He called out.

"Magnamon," Ryo said quickly, "Leave things down here for me, you take care of Millenniumon, quickly."

* * *

Magnamon wasn't sure if leaving his partner alone with the traitorous Chosen was the best thing to do, but he couldn't ignore the bigger threat. He glanced once more at the two humans and the cowering Bearmon, though he couldn't blame the young one for his behaviour. They were on their own, something he didn't like considering Neo's trickery. It was the same he realized as the last time, he had been forced to leave Ryo behind for some time then too.

"So, you've come back for another round have you?" he taunted, hovering in front of the dragon.

"Royal Knight," Millenniumon said, his dual voices booming as one, "So the old ones are still interfering where they don't belong."

The knight frowned, he didn't understand what the dragon was referring too, but he had already pegged Millenniumon as insane so that hardly mattered. What did matter was how that insanity was going to figure into the coming combat, his opponent had already been strong the last time and he himself had been more familiar with his form at the time. Now he felt strong, but his unfamiliarity might cost him dearly if he didn't pay enough attention.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Magnamon said.

"Usurper," the answer came smoothly, "your lack of understanding the finer points of your existence does not surprise me."

"I know enough to beat you down."

Millenniumon grinned, two red filled openings in the dragon's heads, with his moment of victory at hand he didn't mind messing with the last warrior in his path. He knew this one, it had been in his way before and had assumed a place in the world it had no right of assuming. Yes, the thought rang through his conflicted psyche; there was no need to rush this now.

"We'll see about that. Let's begin with this, Death Crystal."

Several spears of dark blue crystal, not unlike the one binding Millenniumon's spirit, appeared around them. For just a moment they hovered harmlessly, but their purpose was not hard to deduce. When they did shoot forward, faster than the golden knight had assumed they could, he managed to evade them. Even fully armoured he felt lighter than he ever had before, able to fly out of reach of the spikes. All of the spears crashed into the ground below, sending up clouds of dust, but staying clear of the area he had left his partner in. Now it truly seemed that Neo was indeed in league with the dragon from the start, why else would he have spared that area in his attack.

The first attack against him had been easy, far unlike the pressure bombardments that had stopped his friends, but his opponent had practically assured him he would start of easy. Magnamon knew that he was being played with and while that did bother his pride just a little he was far more interested in taking advantage of the opportunity.

He launched himself at the crystal, slamming into it with a right punch followed by a quick left. Punches, kicks, he kept up the barrage as long as he dared before using the crystal itself as leverage up in the air. Another barrage of crystal spears narrowly missed him, so far he had gotten all the hits in and if he could keep that up things might not be that hopeless. At least, that was his hope, but as he looked at the crystal, completely unharmed, he suddenly wasn't so sure anymore.

* * *

"How long," Ryo started to ask, his voice filled with anger. Every betrayal, every hardship, seemed to come to him at once now, tearing at his self-control. He felt conflicted between sadness, anger and maybe the worst of all, self-pity. Everyone had been lying to him and he hadn't even noticed, was he truly such a failure? If the look his former friend gave him was any indication he certainly was, but just looking at his face now enraged him. Still, he managed to calm himself down despite the turmoil in his mind, changing the question as he did so, "Has everything you told me been a lie, Saiba Neo?"

"I have not lied to you, Akiyama Ryo, at least not about the important things" Neo answered easily, "I'm a Chosen, just like you, only my boss isn't the same as yours."

"You didn't lie? How about lying about being my friend or that sob story about your sister? Did any of that really happen!"

Neo's visage darkened noticeably at the mention of his sister. That alone told him enough to know that Neo had been truthful about that at least. He remembered then how Neo's demeanour had changed at the recount of his sister's accident, anger aimed at the world and to the weakness of living beings.

"You're quite sensitive to betrayal aren't you?" Neo said, "I don't blame you, look at how your friends have treated you. Friendship is a weakness, something for others to exploit. They used friendship to make you fight for them, and you're angry with me?"

"They don't work for evil," Ryo countered, though he still couldn't get himself past the resentment he felt. Several strong explosions rocked the area, the potent results of Moon-Millenniumon's spears. High above the fighting went on strong, but those on the ground paid it no heed.

"What is evil?" Neo shouted, "What they told you? Well, they lied to you about everything else, what makes you think they didn't lie to you about that as well! You don't work for 'good' Ryo; you work for a corrupt system that has become complacent with its power. What they label as evil is nothing more than a threat to their rule. Millenniumon isn't evil, I'm not evil, we are just agents of a new system, a better system. Join us Ryo, forget about letting them use you and take what should be rightfully yours, power."

In light of the ruses he had been fed Ryo was more inclined to believe than he cared to admit, but whether or not Neo's point of view was true or not didn't take away that some of those opposing forces had indeed been evil. His own sense of morality labelled them as such and it was that same morality that made him reject Neo now. He didn't get the chance to speak his refute though.

"Shut up!" Bearmon screamed, charging past Ryo.

Ignored by everyone up till that moment Bearmon had been working himself up to do something to help, but he wasn't as brave or as strong as the others. If they couldn't fight against Moon-Millenniumon what could he possibly do? But now there was someone he could fight, the one responsible for his mentor's death, the one who had made them go to that abominable graveyard.

The disrespectful taunting of someone he truly admired, someone who, without the strength to fight against most of his world's inhabitants, never shied away from doing what was right. Now it was his turn to the right thing. Before he had even realized it he had shouted his objections loudly and was charging up the hill of debris.

Ryo noticed the trap first, but by then it was too late to shout a warning as the air in front of Neo shimmered, blurring the boy's features from his point of view. A tall form materialized in the space between the cub and his intended target. Silent as ever the yellow fox slammed a palm into Bearmon's face, not fatal, but he would be feeling that for quite a while. Now the cub hung suspended, the force of his charge evening out the blow against him. He would have fallen back down if Renamon had stopped there, but he didn't, effortlessly following up on his first move with a round-house kick that catapulted the young digimon away. Bearmon landed roughly behind a pile of stones, crashing into the one rock that kept the whole in a precarious balance. It collapsed, taking Bearmon and his fate out of Ryo's sight.

"Ah yes, I promised to introduce you to my partner, didn't I?" Neo said, "This is Renamon, and before you ask, yes, he is my true partner. Not like that thing you have going on with V-mon, or have you forgotten that you are just an assignment to him?"

"I have not forgotten our beginnings," Ryo said, though in truth he had wanted to put that part behind him and after the weeks serving with V-mon he had done mostly that. It was one of the things that, if he was honest with himself, nagged at him in the quiet hours of the night. They worked well together, kindred spirits of a sort, but they were not true partners, no matter how much he had wanted them to be. Sometimes he had felt jealous of Ken and Wormmon and ever since the Tournament he had felt the same regarding the other Chosen. They had a true partner, he had not. Was that what made him so expendable? His eyes narrowed, this wasn't the time to dwell on those issues, he didn't like the ruthlessness in those yellow irises set in black one bit. While he was observing the newest threat against him with the same intensity as Renamon was giving him, Neo's attention had shifted to another area.

"They seem to be having fun," Neo commented out of the blue, observing the two fighting specks in the air. The glow of gold and blue contrasted clearly against the dark mass swirling above.

"Did you know I was under orders not to harm you," Neo spoke, sounding somewhat melancholic as he watched the two fighters above in their dreadful dance, "He wanted you for himself, a prize above all others it seemed. If you had joined us you would certainly have been placed above me, regardless of everything I've accomplished. I couldn't risk doing anything against you then though, he was always watching. Accidents could happen though in the heat of battle, but you kept on winning. I shunted you to another world, away from his sight, or so I thought, but even then you came back. You're just lucky like that I suppose."

Ryo bit back a sarcastic reply, curious as to what the traitorous boy was alluding to. Part of him could guess though and his eyes darted around in search of a way out of his predicament. If he had to face the fox by himself he'd die, his only hope lay in buying enough time and believing in his friend to come to his aid.

"Why do you serve him Neo?" Ryo asked, "Despite of what you claim, you know he means this world no good. And do you think he'll stop here, after the Digital World he'll conquer Earth next!"

"So?" Neo shrugged.

"You can't mean that," Ryo implored; surely some part of the devil in front of him had to have compassion. The part that had been his friend, the part that cared for his sister, surely it had to exist somewhere. Not everything could have been a lie, an act to gain his trust.

"It doesn't matter what happens to our world. Humans are frail and weak beings, devoid of any real power in their lives," Neo continued, extinguishing any hope that he could be reasoned with as his eyes now focused on the last remaining Chosen with a look that showed how deep his desire for power truly ran, "There are only two things that matter, the fact that I'm the one aligned with the most powerful being in all the worlds and that you will die here!"

At once Renamon leaped into action as a glow surrounded both him and the black Digivice. Ryo blanched, as if things weren't bad enough already, now he'd have to face an adult digimon by himself, an opponent that would not show him any mercy. The wind, already cold for the desert, turned into a biting sting while it swirled around the evolving digimon as it took on a form more fitting with his character, the ice demon called Ice-Devimon.

"He's too busy to watch you now and I'll take no chances of you getting in my way again," Neo said, prompting his partner into immediate action. Ice Devimon towered above the diminutive human, enjoying the recoil his presence gave. So many ways to complete his master's order, but he had already decided to do it as quickly as possible. The satisfaction of finally finishing off the boy he had been tracking for weeks didn't outweigh the risk of being discovered by _him_. Above all he was a survivor and an outright confrontation with Millenniumon wasn't an outcome he'd relish.

"Farewell boy, it's been a fine chase," Ice Devimon said through a fanged grin. He jumped off the ledge of stone to land directly in front of Ryo, his oversized claw closing in on the defenceless boy. But a wave of burning bats flew between them, halting a startled Ice Devimon in his tracks.

"What the hell?" Neo exclaimed, his gleeful disposition gone in the same instance his plans were interrupted.

"My master," Lady Devimon, Ryo's unlikely saviour, said haughtily while showing her white fangs as she smiled, "sends his regards."

* * *

Magnamon panted, but caught himself quickly. The battle remained at a stubborn stalemate and he could not afford to show his enemy just how it was tiring him out. Slowly, as his muscles were beginning to feel the strain of the violent and in particular rapid battle, his body began to feel heavier. Though it wasn't upon him yet he knew the moment in which he could no longer muster enough power to remain in the air was steadily approaching. Millenniumon on the other hand showed no signs of weariness at all.

Both hung suspended a great height above the ground, leaving the coliseum's remaining occupants invisible even for the knight's keen eyes. It was for the better, the higher they were the smaller the chance became that a stray attack would hit them.

Around Moon-Millenniumon the air crackled again as six more crystalline spears were summoned into being. Without warning they shot forward but missed their mark as he evaded to the right. To late he realized that only five of the spears had gone his way. Unable to see where the last one was he twisted around on instinct, narrowly missing a killing strike through his uncovered abdomen. Instead his right shoulder pad was struck fiercely, sending him spiralling down.

Several seconds went by for Magnamon to recover his wits and stop his descent. His eyes darted to the armour on his shoulder, feeling dismayed to see cracks where the spear had struck. A small piece of gold even fell to the ground, trailing a few small wisps of Millenniumon's foreign energy with it.

"Trash," Millenniumon commented from above as the knight seemed transfixed by his broken plating. In truth he was more interested in the crackles of energy; their dark blue hue in sharp contrast with is golden glow, before they fizzled out. The dark force seemed far more detrimental to his armour than the physical blow of the spear had, as if the two energy signatures had cancelled themselves out so the spear's physical properties could better affect his armour.

He recalled the boast the dragon had made when his friends had launched their futile attacks, that they couldn't harm him. Perhaps it wasn't just the difference in power he had referred to, but the fact that all of their attacks, save Thundermon's, had been physical. Magnamon almost cursed out loud, his enemy didn't possess a body anymore, not since he had been defeated in the desert. A spirit, a true spirit unlike the ghost type digimon, wouldn't be affected by simple things as blows or electrical currents. But, if Millenniumon's energy nullified his, perhaps the reverse would also be true. He knew it was a long shot, but it was all he had to go for.

* * *

Standing easily on top of the impromptu ramp created from the bowels of the coliseum the demonic woman oversaw them without any concern. To her they were no real threat, standing only one step on the evolutionary ladder above Ice Devimon was enough to ensure her an inevitable victory. Already she had lost count of the number of adult digimon that had fallen before her. If she was worried about the struggling titans above her, the Golden Royal Knight of Miracles or the Dark God of Destruction, she gave no sign of it. Of course none of them on the ground were that concerned with the battle high above yet, at least not while it still raged.

For Ryo it took a few moments to convince himself she wasn't the same as the Lady Devimon he had encountered below the graveyard the day before, the sound of her voice was different as well as her inflections. More importantly though someone from that place would never help him under any circumstances, unless it was to help him under.

In any case he was not convinced she, or her master, whoever that could be, was there to help him per se, likely that was just a side-effect from thwarting Neo somehow. Ryo had no idea who her master was, but one glance at Neo told him that the other boy knew exactly what it was about.

"Your master," Neo spat, "shouldn't involve himself with what doesn't concern him."

"He warned you of your folly when you double-crossed him," Lady Devimon warned, walking down the sloping ramp gracefully, "This should not come as a surprise to you."

The black-clad demon set of against the ramp while she was halfway down; the force of her departure tore away the integrity of the stone column, breaking it in two pieces that slammed into the debris field below. For a moment she seemed to disappear, riding the cloud of dust as it spread out from the impacting rocks. Both Ryo and Neo had to turn around to let the dome of rocky particles pass them from behind, but even with their backs to the worst of it they needed to shield their faces making them effectively blind to what was going on around them.

Ice Devimon wasn't so lucky, the moment he tried to shield himself Lady Devimon rushed him, making him unable to guard against the blow of her oversized hand against his chest. The world started to move around him, the power of her punch sending him farther back along with the periphery of the dust cloud. Straining his wings he managed to stop his involuntary flight and land on the uneven ground. Digging himself in the best he could in the very limited amount of time he had the devil successfully guarded himself against a second attack. Immediately he retaliated with a wide sweep of his arms, but still inside the cloud Lady Devimon had already disappeared from his sight again.

* * *

Even up in the sky the crash of one of the coliseum's columns was heard and seen, the fallout of the crash blocking all sight of the small group below, if they had been visible before. The lone warrior had to fight the urge to rush back to his partner, to see if he was alright. Ryo would be the first to say just how stupid that would be, so he tore his sight away from the ground and back to the enemy occupying the same space he did. In his heart he knew Ryo was still alive, the only reason he could still fight was because of the Digimental his partner had now entrusted with him. He would not stop now.

"Plasma Shoot," Magnamon called out, opening several compartments of his armour. Bright beams of energy shot out at Millenniumon, but the dragon easily materialized several crystal spears in their paths, effectively blocking the attack. For a moment the crystallized dragon disappeared under a cloud of shards.

"As I thought, long range attacks aren't going to work against this guy," Magnamon muttered as his opponent became visible again.

* * *

"Always, always," Neo started to say, trembling slightly as he did so. For a moment Ryo thought something was wrong with his one-time friend, but then the other boy just threw his head back and laughed.

"There's always something that interrupts me when I'm dealing with you, but this is fine, the two of us are finally alone," Neo finally continued, a smile still plastered on his face. It became even wider as he observed his nemesis' sullen expression, "It's as it should be; after all we are two sides of the same coin."

"I'm not like you Neo," Ryo replied.

Neo barked a laugh, "Are you so sure about that? I have watched you for a long time now and you are exactly like me, I made sure of that."

"What do you mean?"

Neo grinned wickedly, "You know what I mean."

Racking his brain for answers Ryo didn't like what he found. Neo's voice, deprived of the friendly warmth, was indeed familiar to him. He had heard it even before their first meeting, which wasn't truly the first he now realized, at the start of the D1-Tournament. Back then it had echoed through a mountainous terrain, right after the assassination of the last of the misguided Unimon. Shima Unimon had said it, hadn't he, that a Chosen had tricked him into striking out against them.

The thought of a renegade Chosen Child was too preposterous to consider at the time, and they had believed it to be a humanoid digimon instead, but as time went by it wasn't the only time they had heard of this mysterious child. Death Meramon had blamed him for what had happened as well.

Ryo almost shuddered; there was one more connection he had made with the unknown voice at Shima Unimon's death.

"You, you've been the thorn in my side since the very beginning," Ryo growled angrily, finally understanding that Neo was the being he had come to know under the name of the Master, "You've set all those monsters against me. Do you know the suffering they caused, the innocent they hurt?"

"And you Ryo, do you know the innocent you hurt," Neo said triumphantly, tapping his Digivice as if to tell him something, "You may call me a child killer all you want, but know that you are exactly the same."

Neo's Digivice, a black oval shaped thing, was of the same design as Ryo's, not the old type the other Chosen had used. When he had first come, he remembered that he too had been given an old type. But it had changed after he found the first of the shards of his Digimental. The catalyst for its transformation was a Digimental.

"A Digimental," Ryo breathed.

"That's right," Neo acknowledged, revealing his own D-Terminal, "As you hold the Digimental of Miracles I hold the Digimental of Darkness. While yours grants the armour of a Royal Knight, mine grants dominion. It turned a small Plotmon into the raging Lynxmon, a kind Piyomon into Pteramon. Shadramon, Flybeemon or Boarmon, all of them were innocent children that you killed!"

"No," Ryo whispered, but he knew that he was told the truth.

"They were not the monsters, you were."

Part of him wanted to shout in rage, but that same wrath refused to give Neo the satisfaction. As he had done when the other Chosen had said their apologies and goodbyes he kept quiet. Spitefully he knew he should have acted more composed since the beginning, but after all the revelations things just got too out of hand.

Taking a few deep breaths Ryo knew what had to be done. With no other digimon to stand between them he locked his eyes on Neo determinately before rushing up the debris pile as Bearmon had done. Neo was right, they were alone now and he was the only one who could stop him, this time there was an enemy he could handle. Some part of him was actually looking forward to that, he realized.

Already halfway up the pile he knew he somehow had to offset Neo's tactical advantage, otherwise he would simply get kicked back down before he was even high enough to land a punch himself. Without time to think things through he grabbed the first piece of rock in reach and chucked it right at the smug face above him.

It flew straight on target and, predictably, Neo stepped back at once to avoid it. An instinctive reaction and one he regretted instantly, but before the white-haired boy could correct his mistake Ryo was already on top of the debris pile with him.

* * *

The stone seats of the south wall, directly above the main entrance to the coliseum, and the only real piece of architecture that was still standing cracked as Ice Devimon's stoic frame dropped down on top it harshly. He immediately rose from the crouching position he had taken and scanned the field around him. Somewhere in the debris field his master was facing off against Ryo, but that was no longer his concern. That lay with the vampiric woman he now faced, who had once again vanished.

A bright flash, followed closely by an equally loud bang, suddenly came from the ravaged sky above. It seemed Moon-Millenniumon had finally lost his interest in the fighting and was now bringing out the truly big guns. Ice Devimon couldn't help but glance worriedly at the two streaks of light that bounced and clashed off each other above him. He knew full well the madness of the crystallized digimon, though by now he seemed as far beyond digimon in power as they stood above humans, so the term digimon hardly seemed to apply anymore. A god, more powerful that the four Harmonious Ones, and as insane as he was powerful. If he drew too much attention to himself now he had no doubt that in his furious zeal the evil god would destroy him in a heartbeat, of that he was sure. With the clashing of lights above intensifying the dragon would instinctively lash out at anything that could even remotely be considered a threat.

As he stood tall he suppressed the urge to wince or to grab at the wound at his side. He knew he had to chance drawing the ire of Millenniumon upon him and fight to the fullness of his abilities if he wanted to come out of the battle victorious. After all the careful planning and near meticulous execution things had fallen to chaos anyway. And now he was fighting someone he couldn't even see, Lady Devimon was neither above him nor around him.

On a sudden hunch he leapt away and higher up the seatings and not a moment too soon. The ground he had been standing on was shattered from below by a black pike.

"Avalance Claw," Ice Devimon called out in mid-jump. The air around him wings seemed to freeze as several icicles appeared out of the thin amount of moisture present in the air. Not that he needed it, but the altered state of the normally dry desert air gave his attack a much needed power boost.

Lady Devimon's pike cut apart empty air and she came face to face with the hovering spikes of ice. At the slightest mental command from their creator they moved to impale the woman, but she crushed them with a swing of her normal arm.

The ice did make several long gashes in her coverings, but didn't harm the pale skin beneath. The smaller shards of ice didn't drop to the ground as expected; instead they seemed to lodge on to the arm that had broken them. Within moments all of her arm was covered in an icy layer that continued to grow, snaking up to her shoulder.

Ice Devimon smirked, no one had ever gotten out of his control of ice before, at least not fast enough to prevent a decapitating blow. With his wings spread he slowed his descend, but couldn't hide a surprised wince when his feet settled down. Apparently he hadn't been fast enough; a nasty gash now adorned his left heel. Now Lady Devimon returned that smirk, unconcerned with the ice creeping up her neck.

"So this is your power," she said, tilting her head slightly, as much as the ice allowed, "Puwazon."

The word had barely left her lips when all of the ice was completely evaporated by a wave of exploding dark energy. It didn't give him any time to respond before the biting power slammed into him. Unable to brace himself because of his leg wound he found himself catapulted back and through the coliseum's seats.

"Now that's more like it," She laughed, diving after the other demon through the rubble.

* * *

Magnamon raised his gauntlets just in time to block Millenniumon's crystal shell from slamming into his face. From the ground it looked like two semi-circles, one gold and the other dark, were pushing into each other while gaining in altitude. The speed of their fight had increased dramatically, at times it was almost too fast for the knight to follow and that showed in his appearance. Half of his helmet was gone and the other side showed a lot of deep lacerations. Both of his shoulder plates were destroyed, only the one on his right shoulder still had a small piece attached to his body armour. Over the crackling of their colliding energies he heard his gauntlets beginning to buckle as well.

"Magna Kick," he said, catching Millenniumon's with his armoured foot from below. The crystal shot away like a football before stabilizing a few seconds later. Those few seconds gave Magnamon a brief respite that was much needed. Progress was slim and he was looking far worse than his opponent did. His armour was almost gone, he was tiring out at a fast rate and wasn't sure the damage he had managed to do was actually a good thing. The crystal surrounding the dragon's dark form had several cracks all over it, the most noticeable one going from top to bottom on the front. But it seemed that only allowed more of his power through, after all the crystal had been meant to act as a container.

If only I could destroy the crystal at the same time as Millenniumon, he thought. That way he wouldn't be able to use any more of power. However he no longer believed even that special attack was going to be enough at that point, all he'd do was free him completely. If that happened all hope of victory was lost, but if he didn't try it now he wouldn't get another chance.

Millenniumon saved him the trouble of deciding, ending everything with a roar, "Death Crystal."

Dozens, even hundreds of crystal spears, materialized all around the main crystalline body, a number previously unseen. They hovered above the weakened knight in all their unholy glory, a spectacle that would've been beautiful in any other situation. Light was scattered, refracted and reflected by each of them into a web of myriad colours. It was offset by sparks of fluorescent beams as new crystals came into being with a spark, making the web of light seem almost alive in vibrations. That beauty lasted only as long as it took to form all the spears, then they shot down towards him. There were too many to avoid or destroy, but he was going to try anyway.

"Plasma Shoot!" He shouted, unable to keep a note of desperation out of his voice. If he fell there no one would oppose Millenniumon and his friends on the ground would surely die, if they hadn't already. Giving as much as he dared his energy beams destroyed crystals by the dozens before they could even get close, but for every one he destroyed more only seemed to come at him in their place. When they finally struck him his mind mercifully blacked out from the pain.

A rain of crystals and one other thing crashed into and through the same southern wall of the coliseum Ice Devimon and Lady Devimon had before, leaving even that spot in complete ruin. Now nothing that remained could give any hint to the building that had once stood there.

* * *

On the small hillock of stones both boys sought to gain a better foothold on the traitorous ground where not a single patch was level. One wrong move and they could fall and if that happened the other would pounce on mercilessly. At least Ryo was sure that Neo would do so, as for himself, he had no idea what he would do should such an opportunity occur. He did know he somehow had to stop his former friend, but Neo would never back down willingly.

"Nice punch," Neo commented, rubbing away a trickle of blood from his mouth while rising to his feet. His face showed several bruises and parts of his clothes were ripped. He looked like hell, but Ryo knew he probably didn't look much different, not if the aches in his body were any indication. Rolling around on the sharp rocks had taken its toll on both of them even if they hadn't been trying to beat each other senseless, which they had, with great zeal.

"But you're holding back, why is that I wonder?" Neo continued, staring Ryo down with his cold eyes, "You want to stop me, but you're unwilling to do what is needed. I had hoped you'd show a little more determination, but it seems you are just a weakling after all, nothing more, nothing less."

"Just surrender Neo," Ryo rasped, his unwillingness to continue talking to the boy was overruled by the need to end this quickly. Though they were both looking ravaged and weakened Neo still held the advantage, he wasn't showing any mercy.

"Or what," Neo huffed, "You'll kill me?"

"Yes, if that's what it takes" Ryo heard himself say and surprisingly, most of all to himself, he actually meant it. There had been a time not that long ago when the mere thought of killing someone would never have seriously crossed his mind. But that time was behind him now, he had killed and help kill sentient beings before and the step to taking human life was not that big of a leap. Not for the first time he wondered just exactly what he was turning into and whether his nightmarish double's earlier taunts weren't closer to the truth than he dared to admit. If he actually killed Neo he would prove that guy right, that he was a killing-machine.

"Now that's the spirit, now you sound just like me. It takes a monster to kill a monster after all."

"If that's what it takes to save both worlds," Ryo reiterated once again, though if he was honest with himself he still had some doubts if he could go through with it. If he did, then there would be no turning back and it wouldn't just affect him or Neo. He had a sister, a family, who would be hurt immensely because of something he'd done; it didn't matter if Neo was rotten to the core. A sceptic part of him wondered if that was part of the reason Neo had been so forthcoming with him in other to humanize himself. Neo had become a true person in Ryo's eyes and not just another villain to overcome. Damn him, he thought.

Neo suddenly approached quickly and Ryo reacted seconds later, which was almost too late given the small space that had separated them before. He blocked one of Neo's fists by deflecting it with his right arm. It hurt, his arm was bruised enough already, but not as much as it would have if it had hit him in the face. He lashed out with his left fist, but was likewise thwarted. This was how most of the fighting had progressed already; they were just about equally matched in strength. All that running around through the Digital World had toughened him up considerably, but he still resented the way they had gone about training him.  
Neo kneed him in the stomach and he doubled over, but before his opponent could capitalize on his weakness Ryo threw himself against Neo, toppling them both over. When they rose they were that much closer to the edge of their pile, but neither cared very much about that. This was Ryo's chance, if he came on strong enough now he could push Neo off the hill as his enemy was now closer to the edge than he was. Neo realized the same, but bet on the fact that despite protests Ryo was not ready to make him fall to his death, as the side they were on was quite steep and filled with sharp rocks. Whoever fell down would likely not rise again.

Nevertheless Ryo came on and this time he went through Neo's defences, as each of their punches did from time to time. It wasn't enough to actually force him over the edge as the white haired boy had guessed, but fate conspired against him when at that time Magnamon was blasted through the coliseum's ruins along with Millenniumon's crystal spears. The explosive power of that impact destroyed a great portion of what had remained of the coliseum and made the ground shake violently. Neo, already a bit of balance by Ryo's strike, lost his footing completely. One of his feet caught the bad end of a few rocks and twisted out from under him. He fell back, but there was nothing to land on at first. Ryo watched helplessly as Neo disappeared from the debris pile.

Lady Devimon looked over her shoulder to the site of the explosion, ignoring both the falling debris as well as her opponent. Ice Devimon clutched his right arm, broken just below his shoulder and now completely useless. It wasn't even the most grievous injury he suffered, but that still didn't stop him from looking as if he had already won. Not an unreasonable thought as Millenniumon's prime opponent had just been defeated, leaving no one but the demonic woman on the field of battle against Millenniumon's side.

"You chose the wrong master to serve," Ice Devimon declared.

Lady Devimon regarded him with a look akin to pity, "If that thought gives you comfort, you should hold on to it. No matter what happens back there, you won't be alive much longer to see the outcome."

With a steady tread she approached him, reforming her arm into a spike once again. This time he wouldn't be able to stop her; he was barely able to remain upright let alone fight. Halfway towards him she suddenly stopped for a brief second, and then she charged right through the space that remained between them. Ice Devimon lashed out at the same time Lady Devimon struck out with her spike, but only one of the two attacks connected to end the fight.

* * *

The sight that greeted Ryo when he looked at the bottom of the drop made him stop cold. There, at the bottom, lay Neo's body in a most unnatural posture. From his vantage point he couldn't see if he was actually still alive, but as he watched in silence a red stain started to slowly flow out over the rocks from Neo's head.

In shock by what he had done, though it wasn't completely his fault, he never noticed when Millenniumon hovered down near him until he spoke.

"Finally only we are left," Moon-Millenniumon's dual voice rang out, "As it should be."

Ryo looked over the bluish crystal he had used to entrap the digimon's remains weeks earlier to prevent him from reforming. Now the crystal was damaged as well as tainted by the evil energy that seeped out from the cracks. They weren't made by Millenniumon but by his partner, his temporary partner as Neo had reminded him, and that at least gave him some hope that the dragon could be beaten. If he could be damaged he was not invincible, though he certainly came close. But even as he thought this he wondered just how many would actually take the chance to fight him like they had done. If anyone was going to, he thought dejectedly, they would have already come.

One of the dragon's heads looked over to where Neo was bleeding, either dead or close to it, and a red line formed itself on the dragon's shadowy head. It was a smile, though no lips could be seen in the inky darkness that was the dragon's silhouette. The other head's eyes narrowed somewhat, as if in a frown, whatever Millenniumon was thinking it conflicted somewhere in his psyche, something between anger and satisfaction.

"You have come a long way," Millenniumon said, confusing Ryo with the note of pride in his voice, "allowing nothing to stop you. Now take the next step, join me."

* * *

A void, a space filled with nothing at all, no colours, no texture, it was maddening as his mind tried to put it in a frame of reference. It was nothing, but by that same token it was everything, so his mind had trouble comprehending. White, he suddenly thought and the confusing emptiness became just that. The blue lizard looked around, but in the sea of whiteness he might have just stared ahead for all the difference that it made. He had no idea where he was, the last thing he recalled were a limitless number of spears that filled him vision. Why wasn't he dead?

Looking himself over as he floated in white he saw he was still Magnamon, though all of his armour was gone.

"Is this what it means to be dead?" He wondered out loud.

"You are not dead yet," A magnificent voice boomed. Out of nothingness a huge dragon materialized itself. His gigantic serpentine body was vaguely translucent and sparked with power. Thick chains encircled him, from his white-bearded face to his tail. Around his four clawed legs many Digicores circled around. Though Magnamon had never seen him in person he knew he was looking at Qinglongmon, one of the long absent Harmonious Ones.

"Or perhaps your death will never have occurred."

Magnamon was speechless at the sight in front of him, more so when three more beings joined them in the void. The fiery bird Zhuqiaomon, the white tiger Baihumon and the two-headed turtle Xuanwumon, all of the Sovereigns were there. What could you possibly say to a god, let alone four of them?

"If I'm not dead, where am I?" He asked.

"He doesn't need to understand," Zhuqiaomon interrupted.

"But I believe he does if he's to be fully able to do his part," Qinglongmon said patiently to his fellow Sovereign before facing the smallest of their company once again, "Your body has been completely destroyed by Moon-Millenniumon's attack, however your spirit is still connected to our Alias Accessor which is why you are able to speak with us now."

"Alias Accessor?" Magnamon questioned, his confusion only growing by the explanation he was given. As if on cue the blocked shape of the Digimental of Miracles appeared in front of him.

"Unlike the other Digimentals this one is of our design and also unlike the others, as you've no doubt noticed, this one doesn't simply push you to another Adult stage, but gives you the form that was predetermined by its creation."

"Millenniumon called me a Royal Knight," Magnamon said.

"That is correct, that's what this Digimental does, but that's not the only thing. Because we allowed it into being in this Digital World it connects the user to us."

"That's all well and good," Magnamon replied a bit disrespectfully, but he figured that if he was dead things couldn't get any worse, "but how will that do me any good now. Millenniumon's out there now with no one to stop him and you are here talking to me! You're supposed to be our gods, why don't you stop him!"

Zhuqiaomon laughed harshly, "So the runt has some backbone, but not a lot of sense. You are not to question us, only do as you are told."

Again Qinglongmon interjected before things could get out of hand, "It isn't common knowledge, but we are, in a sense, asleep. After the Dark Masters that imprisoned us were defeated we have yet to free ourselves. The power released by the Chosen crests has given us a way back to our world, but this takes time. For now all we can do is through the Digimental of Miracles."

"Which didn't work out very well," Magnamon gestured to himself.

"You did well enough and you might still get your chance if your partner pulls through."

"Ryo?" Magnamon muttered.

"If he does you will only have one shot, so you will have to act fast with your most powerful attack," Qinglongmon said.

"With the Digimental we will assist you, however there's still a high probability that it won't be enough and an even higher probability that no matter the outcome you won't make it through."  
That took a bit of time for him to consider, but he rationalized the thought of him dying with the fact that if he did nothing he would be dead regardless.

"How will you do this?" He simply asked. In answer something small and shining with a pink light appeared next to the image of the Digimental. Slowly they moved together, fusing in an amalgamation of pink and gold light. The light quickly enveloped Magnamon as well.

"We will unlock the full potential of the Digimental, the rest is up to you and Ryo," he heard someone say before everything once again disappeared from him.

* * *

Ryo shook his head, not trusting his own voice under the penetrating gaze of Millenniumon's eyes, sure that this time he would die. He wasn't the type to expect to walk away freely after refusing an evil god. He took heart in the bravery of his friends, those that had died and those that might still live. The last thing he wanted was to betray their memory by becoming a traitor for the sole purpose of saving his own life. Subconsciously his hand found itself around his Digivice once again. A miracle, if he had needed one before he certainly did now, but Magnamon, V-mon, had fallen. The Digimental of Miracles had failed.

A way out, thinking desperately for some way to get out of there and maybe fight another day, Ryo mentally went through all his options. But he was only human and anything he could try wouldn't help him one bit, he couldn't even run there was nowhere to get too. If the dungeons hadn't been destroyed he might have, with a lot of luck, made it to one of the portals out.

No matter how much he'd have searched there was nothing that could get him out of trouble this time. Obstinately he looked deep into Millenniumon's eyes, feeling that the two red pairs were equally drilling into his skull as if they were having a battle of wills. He recalled vaguely that he had similarly tried to stare down Lilithmon. A stray thought came to him that this was more the face of his killer than she had been. After all that he had been through this time it truly seemed that his destiny was to die.

It's futile to stand in the way of destiny. The thought came to him unbidden and so did a faint memory of him hearing someone say that, but the voice that had was his own. How could that be?

"It's not futile to stand in the way of destiny," he shouted to Millenniumon. It surprised Ryo almost as much that the dragon's eyes seemed to widen a fraction by his words as the fact that he had spoken them at all.

"To fight destiny you need a miracle," he said to himself, "And to achieve a miracle you have to make one yourself."

Saying the words to himself he felt his fear lessen somewhat, at least enough so it didn't occupy his entire being. The fear instilled on him by Millenniumon's aura reminded him of all the times he had felt the same sort of imposing fear. Yesterday, against Lilithmon, but that encounter was too vague in his mind. Before that, that time when things weren't so wrong, when he had still believed in his fellow Chosen, before all the betrayals. That time he had closed a gate to the Dark Area.

Ryo closed his eyes, but surprisingly he only felt the other eyes boring into him more strongly. Clutching his Digivice more tightly he tried to recall the spark of power he had used then to force away the darkness, hoping that somehow he could be able to create a miracle for himself. No, he corrected his thinking, not just for himself, but for everyone, for not one but two worlds. There was no way he could allow himself to fail now, even though he knew what he was trying to do was ludicrous.

A miracle, he thought fervently and the image of the golden Digimental with the same title appeared in his mind in front of the red eyes he kept imagining. He wanted to make that image a reality, but no matter how much he tried it couldn't possibly happen. Why did it have to be him, why did he have to carry the responsibility? His focus on the Digimental started to slip and instead he started to remember voices from his past.

Sorcerymon had said, "You have a purpose; we're only here to help you achieve that purpose."

Yes, his purpose was to die as well, only a day later. Why had they all tried to push him to this point, what made him different from the other Chosen, from other children?

"Don't you know? I'm just a battery," an unknown voice had said.

A battery, but a battery alone is nothing without a way to use it.

"But, but you, you are different, the one random element in the cosmic equation that makes the impossible possible," Millenniumon laughed.

And why did he make the impossible possible? Because…

"We believe in you Ryo," Piccolomon intoned.

Over the course of days, weeks, people had been saying that he was the only one they could depend on, the only one who could make the impossible possible. He had not believed them then, but he really needed to now, now that he most doubted he could create a miracle. The power he had sought was there, he could feel it throbbing in his body, but it had no outlet and it was fighting him. As before the strength came from deep inside him, yet also it seemed to come from the red eyes still staring at him. Why didn't Millenniumon just finish him, he wondered? There was no way that he could create a miracle out of thin air, that wasn't what he was capable of. No matter how much he tried to force out that strength everyone said he had it never budged. This wasn't the same as helping V-mon evolve, or closing down a portal. There was nothing he could focus the energy that started to give him a major migraine into.

"Didn't I tell you, Ryo-chan, that you can't win a girl's heart with strength alone?" Ryo recalled what the Mimi from his nightmares had said, that strength alone wasn't enough. Then it dawned on him, he didn't need to create a miracle, he only needed to bring the one he already had back. Damaged, broken, the remains of the Digimental he had assembled lay buried underneath tons of rock, that was his focal point. However the broken miracle was the present, and he didn't want the present, he wanted the past back. He recalled the Digimental hovering in front of him, when it had joined with V-mon, when the dark crystal hadn't been so near. Before his rational mind could kick in and scold him for his foolishness he discharged every bit of power he felt in that image.

Nothing surprised him more as his mental image started to actually drain every bit of energy he had like a black hole. When he opened his eyes his body hurt, especially his hands. He was no longer standing, without realizing it he had fallen down on his hands and knees. He hadn't felt this drained since regaining consciousness in the flight from Lilithmon's minions.

Nothing had changed he thought dejectedly; somehow he had wasted all of his stamina in one futile blow. That was when he noticed a golden glow above him instead of the cracked blue crystal. The golden Digimental hovered in the exact position Magnamon had appeared, but where was Millenniumon?

He found the dragon quickly, also in the place he had been when V-mon had first armour evolved. The Digimental's glow intensified, splitting itself into smaller parts. Ryo worried that he had failed anyway, that the egg was reverting to the smaller pieces he had collected over his travels. But their division was too symmetrical and they grew and changed as the distance increased. Slowly Ryo came to his feet, pushing away a dizzy streak, to see the Royal Knight's armour completely reconstructed.

The change to the Digimental didn't stop there, golden lines appeared to connect the pieces together and form a wireframe mould of V-mon's evolved body.

"Time Warp, a temporal reversal," Moon-Millenniumon's dual voice boomed across the ruins, now there was no mistaking the pride in his voice. There was also no mistaking the threat that came with it, defeated once before through Ryo and V-mon's meddling he wouldn't let that happen again.

The wireframe solidified and Magnamon opened his eyes again. He could hardly believe he was alive again, even though the Sovereigns had pretty much assured him it was going to happen. More than that he felt even stronger than he had before, there was so much power contained in his armour that it actually hurt him. Where the Chron-Digizoid touched his body his skin felt as if on fire. The amount of power the Harmonious Ones were bestowing on him now was too much to bear for his body. He had to use it, though the discharge would most likely destroy him as well. V-mon was reunited with his friend, but he had neither the time to turn to look at him nor say goodbye, but he was certain Ryo already understood what he wanted to say.

"Ryo," Moon-Millenniumon said angrily, his offer spurned once again by the presence of the usurping lizard, a damnable creature with no real presence that, regardless, refused to die.

"You and I are two sides of the same coin, Yin and Yang. Neither of us can die without the other, do you have any idea what this means for us, Ryo?"

Energy crackled violently around his crystal frame, breaking off more pieces than all the attacks he had endured had managed to achieve. They had put a crack in the seal on his power, but he would be the one to free himself and destroy all his enemies with it. At the same time arcs of golden lightning emanated from Magnamon as he crossed his arms in preparation.

"It will be my undoing Ryo; however, it will be your doom as well. Let us go, Ryo, come and fly with me through the worlds of time!" Moon-Millenniumon's voice reached a previously unheard crescendo and the boy knew that it was all or nothing now.

"Time Destroyer!" The crystal finally broke apart, releasing the violent torrent of power of the god held within into the world, pushing apart even the fabric of time in the immediate area.

"Extreme Jihad!" Magnamon countered, throwing his arms wide open. Golden light collided with Millenniumon's dark power, nearly overloading Ryo's senses. Heat, cold, deafening silence and mind splitting agony and all of that at once, despite their contradictory natures, it didn't take long for him to be overcome. Before he lost consciousness he briefly saw two dragon heads, one red, the other blue, but connected nonetheless, rush straight at him. By this time he could no longer see the first friend he had made in the Digital World. Where the ruins of the coliseum had been, a dome of darkness and light finally exploded upward like a fountain through even the dense blanket of clouds.

* * *

Far enough away from the scene of battle to have remained in the clear but close enough to still be able to see everything that went on, the most powerful Demon Lord in the Digital World awaited the return of his disciple. Many things had gone on there and not just the flashy scuffle in the sky, in particular he was interested in what had happened on the ground, with the less powerful, but by no means less important players.

In the meantime he watched as the fountain of pure power, a phenomenon that wouldn't have been possible if it hadn't been for one of those smaller players, finally evaporated, leaving only a huge cloud of dust that was very slow in setting back to the ground. The wind had fallen completely dormant; leaving the dust hanging until the time it would fall back on its own. Before that happened though he would already be long gone.

The robed demon didn't look up when Lady Devimon landed next to him. For his meddling in those affairs she had to serve as his proxy, if he had come any closer himself he wouldn't have been able to remain unnoticed and that would have put a wrench in his plans. He was old, older than most digimon alive in their current time, even almost as old as the Sovereigns themselves. He knew the value of well formed plans, even if those plans cost him the satisfaction of settling his own scores. For now it was more important that his return to the Digital World from his long exile into the Dark Area remained a secret. She was to observe closely in his stead and, if necessary, interfere to get everything going on their assigned course.

"It's done," Lady Devimon reported.

"Any deviations?" Demon asked, but judging by her appearance he already knew the answer.

"The boy wanted to kill that Akiyama kid, I stopped him."  
"Good, and you made sure he knew why you interfered with his petty schemes without mentioning me directly?" Demon questioned, the satisfaction of letting that conniving Chosen know exactly why he wouldn't succeed was equally tempered with the need to follow the greater plan.

"I did exactly as you instructed," she answered, knowing without uncertainty that her new boss wouldn't let her live after making a mistake like that. Maybe if she had been in his service longer, but even then it remained doubtful that Demon knew even the smallest inkling of mercy. He wouldn't enjoy it; it was just a matter of conducting business. Another difference with the Dark Master she used to be affiliated with, Piemon took great pleasure in killing both adversaries and allies alike. He was almost as bad with his 'games' as Pinocchimon had been, but Demon, she wondered if he had ever been like that. Somehow it was hard to imagine given the efficiency in which he conducted himself. Even remaining in hiding to gain an advantage later wasn't something she was used to.

"Then we are done here," he said with a tone of finality.

"The nexus that connects the nearby Digital Planes with this one is destroyed, leaving me as the only one who can cross them at will. Millenniumon and the Akiyama boy have moved beyond this world, leaving me as the most powerful being left and the traitorous renegade Chosen," he said that last word with sarcastic venom, "is gone as well, so no one else knows I'm here."

He considered the clouds of dust that hid the devastation one more time before turning his back on it for the last time, his purpose there had been completed and there was still much to do. Raising his hand he opened a portal to somewhere else in front of them.

"We're going after the kid next?" Lady Devimon asked. She had only been recruited by him a few weeks ago and already she was aware of most, if not all, of her new master's plans. That had surprised her at first, but she soon learned that all members of Demon's Corps, the elite of all his underlings, were equally informed. They had to be in order to act on his wishes with the most efficiency. Lady Devimon now ranked among them and was the only member of his Corps in the Digital World; the others could not be missed from overseeing Demon's realm in the Dark Area. Every day he and Dagomon vied for the desolate wastes with Demon ruling the land and Dagomon the sea. It had been that way ever since Demon had made a foothold there after his banishment. If any faltered the other would immediately pounce on him. Coming back to the Digital World was a risk, but a risk worth taking. It did mean that he couldn't take his Corps with him and that was why he had approached her.

Now she was stuck in his service and with every new bit of information she was given the chains that bound her to him only strengthened, betrayal was out of the question.

She was of the ambitious sort, something she had never denied. That was why she had served Piemon and that was why she served Demon now. They had both been the most powerful viral digimon alive in the Digital World in their times and their rise to power was her rise to power.

"No, the seed he carries isn't worth anything yet. We'll give it time to mature and leech on little Ichijouji Ken for a while before taking it. With his remains in my possession I can finish what I started all those aeons ago, waiting a few more years for that means nothing at this point."

* * *

A hand broke through the sand that was now the site of Piccolomon's coliseum, only a few bits and pieces of stone still protruded upward to give testament to the once great structure. Using a broken metallic bracer another hand soon followed the first to help excavate the rest of Turuiemon's buried body.

Finally freed from the confines the dust covered rabbit took a look around him, but there was nothing he recognized, nor were there any others, he was alone. After the first and only strike he had gotten buried under some debris and lost consciousness for a while. A lucky event, in hindsight, otherwise he might not have made it. Only briefly had he awoken, but soon after the stones that served as shelter were pushed down by what he now knew to be a devastation equal or worse than the one that had befallen Tama City by the same adversary. Without that makeshift shelter he dreaded to consider what could have happened. But the relief at being alive was overshadowed by the uncertainty of what had occurred. Who had won, and who were still alive? He refused to think he was the only one.

"Anyone here!" He called out, letting his feet carry him through the sand with no real goal in mind, "Anyone still alive!"

At first there was no answer at all, but one at a time others found their way out of a sandy grave. Tsukaimon's location was accidentally discovered when Turuiemon sat down on a large rock, presumably one of the foundation's pillars, for a moment to consider his options. It shifted slightly and a litany of curses broke the silence of the windless plain. Thundermon simply blasted himself out of the sand, leaving behind a pit. Piccolomon, and even the runt Bearmon, were still alive and able to excavate themselves. But there was still no sign of Ryo or Millenniumon or any clue as to who had been the victor.

To find out they all split up to search the grounds more thoroughly, an activity that visibly pained the pixie whose longstanding home had been wiped away. He knew the risks beforehand, but that didn't make things easier, it had been a great home to him. He could still see the monumental walls, the housing chambers, the arena floor and the dungeons below in his mind's eye. All of it was gone now and even if the arena itself could be rebuilt the portals themselves were lost forever. Piccolomon sighed, if they had indeed won it had come a great cost.

"Over here," Tsukaimon shouted from the other end of some sandy dunes and even Piccolomon had trouble remembering what had used to stand in its place. The purple mammal's excitement wasn't in vain as they could all see when they assembled around the prone body of V-mon, or what was left of him. He wasn't conscious, the state of his body didn't allow for any conscious thought anymore. As it was he lucky to even be alive at all. His form was party translucent and dissolved into static every so often. His contour was interrupted by irregular spikes; it was if he wasn't completely there anymore.

"His data has been corrupted," Piccolomon observed, "If he stays like this he'll die-ppi, without hope of being reborn."

"What has happened to him?" Tsukaimon asked.

"I don't know," Piccolomon lied. Finding V-mon, especially in his current condition, acknowledged the likely scenario that the emergency plans from all the way to the top had succeeded. The Sovereigns had decided that, as a failsafe, in case Millenniumon could not be contained or defeated that events should be moved so that he was forced to leave their world, even their dimension and time. The part of Piccolomon that trained warriors and heroes was appalled at the cowardice of the act, to leave their greatest enemy in the unlucky hands of whatever place the dark god had gone to. But as a protector of his world he also sympathised with the decision.

"So, what do we do?" Tsukaimon asked.

"We've got to take him to Gennai, maybe something can be done for him there," Piccolomon suggested.

"What about Ryo?" Bearmon interjected, "Shouldn't we look for him first?"  
"Ryo's no longer here," Piccolomon said, conceding to the ever observant and distrusting rabbit that he did know more than he was letting on, "and V-mon doesn't have the time for a fruitless search."

Piccolomon was right though that V-mon didn't have a lot of time left, Turuiemon had to admit, so he chose to let the lie slide. Carefully he picked up the fallen lizard, his body feeling almost weightless in his arms.

"Lead the way," Turuiemon said, though by the tone of his voice it came out more like an order. Given the situation Piccolomon chose to ignore the tone, knowing that he did deserve some of the scorn for his involvement in the D1 affair.

With nothing left for them the group took off with their dying friend in the small hope of somehow being able to save him at Gennai's. All of them, Piccolomon included, were sure that nothing else had survived the explosion except some rubble. However, left behind in the sand as a faded memory, was a matt-black object born in the aftermath of the cataclysm. It was the result of a fusion of three items that had, more or less, found a way to survive despite all odds where everything else had not. Just as V-mon's data had been corrupted the Digimental of Miracles had likewise been tainted, only the egg's data had been scrambled with the data of both the small pink crest the Sovereigns had put inside of it and the Digimental that had been in Neo's possession. Covered by sand and some bits and pieces of two D-Terminals the black Digimental awaited the time where it would be found and used again.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Well, this chapter certainly took a long time to complete, which was only partially due to its size as the longest chapter so far. One hampering thing was a writer's block at the five thousand word mark which held me back for months. That was finally resolved by scratching about three thousand words and going in a slightly different direction. In my original planning, made years and years ago when I started working on this, Ryo was supposed to go on a fifth test, but when I actually got to that part it just messed up the pacing.

Anyway, it's been a fun chapter as it ties up a lot of loose threads I've been weaving in there for a very long time, such as the Digimental of Miracles, the inclusion of Demon and Lady Devimon and, most especially, the resolution for the identity of the Master.

This end the second story arc with only one more to go which chapter-wise, should run the same length as the D-1 Arc.

For the people still reading this, thank you so much for your patience.

* * *

**Next Chapter: **

Even thrown through the Worlds of Time, away from their home plane of existence, the now freed Millenniumon continues his machinations from the distant future. On Ryo, separated from everything by an enormous crevice of time, falls the burden of stopping him once again. Only he didn't get through the ordeals unscathed.


	28. War across the Threshold of Time

**Chapter 27**

**_"War across the Threshold of Time"_**

* * *

_"Let us go, Ryo, come and fly with me through the worlds of time!" _

The powerful voice pierced the darkness, bringing back the unconscious boy to the world of the living with a start. Reflexively he grasped the small device in his hand tighter, not yet seeing that its oval form was cracked in many places. A lifeline of sorts, now snapped. Anxious blue eyes searched around for the source of the voice, but found nothing. Spoken in another time and place the words were nothing more than a lingering echo.

His free hand brushed the cold blue ground he was lying on as he got up, seeing for the first time the broken device in his hand. The first thought he had was to throw it away, but for some reason he couldn't understand he couldn't bear to do it.

There were no signs of life anywhere that he could see, he was alone on a hexagonal platform, one of many connected to each other with vaguely transparent white bridges. It was unlike anything he had ever seen. The boy frowned, something was wrong with that thought but he couldn't put his finger on what exactly was wrong. The platforms, he now saw, were actually the tops of huge pillars, with small lights blinking on the sides as if being part of some huge machine.

"Where am I," another voice said, startling the boy again until he realized it he was who had spoken. His voice, but he did not recognize it. He tried to search his memory, but found nothing, nothing except that voice he thought he heard before. Now he knew what had bothered him, he knew nothing from before he had woken up.

"Let us go, Ryo," the boy said to himself, feeling only a faint sense of familiarity as the name rolled off his tongue. Nevertheless he knew, somehow, that it was his name. "Ryo, that's my name. Akiyama Ryo. But, who is this Akiyama Ryo and where is he?"

Slowly he walked over to one of the plateau's edges, carefully looking over its side. Beneath him, he couldn't tell how far, or if there even was a bottom, was a black void. Pathways and circuitry, like a giant motherboard of a computer, ran somewhere in the void below. He didn't believe he was afraid of heights – or if he did he couldn't recall it – but looking down made his stomach churn. Vertigo. One wrong move and he could be falling forever. He looked up, but the view was the same.

There wasn't a thing that could tell him how he had gotten there or how he could leave again. The pillar he stood upon was no different from the others. An unknown world, it was just like one of those games he used to play. Games? There was a room and a computer, he recalled, his father's computer. With a sense of elation Ryo tried to grab hold of those stray memories, but they flew away from him as soon as he tried remembering more.

"Can't stay here," he said to himself, looking at the small bridge to another pillar. He knew now, or thought he did, that he didn't belong in this world. The brief flash of insight, recalling that room, his room, convinced him of that even if he had no other basis for his assertions. If there was a way into this world logically there had to be a way back as well, wouldn't there? All he had to do was find it.

Tentatively he put a foot on the white. If it was what it appeared to be, a translucent sheet of plastic, it was certainly sturdy for it showed no signs of buckling under his foot. Satisfied that the ramp wouldn't break under his weight he set his foot down and started to walk.

For the longest time he remained alone, crossing platforms suspended in a sea of blackness and circuitry. The image of a motherboard stayed with him, and he remembered that he used to tinker with hardware, and he wondered if he might be shrunk somehow and inside his own computer. As ridiculous as that sounded the only other possibility he could think of was that he was in another world altogether, but things like that didn't happen in real life.

If only he could remember more, surely the answer was there somewhere. Caught up in his own thoughts Ryo didn't notice at first that the nature of the plateaus had shifted, coming closer together and increasing in size. When he did notice the clustering he had already stumbled into a solitary commune.

"Hey, you over there!" someone called out to him. Abruptly Ryo stopped, his first instinct to run, but that wouldn't help him out for long. He could hardly go back the way he came from, there was absolutely nothing there. So he waited as the stranger came closer. His eyes widened when he saw it was a bluish dragon that was approaching him. Something cold settled in his stomach.

"V-mon?" he mouthed. Though he did not know where that name came from Ryo suddenly experienced a tremendous sense of loss. Again a memory came to him, not much, but he remembered seeing a blue lizard, a friend and true companion. This dragon wasn't him, in fact he was actually more purple than blue. The cold feeling answered for him, this dragon was not a friend of his.

"You're finally here, aren't you?" the dragon said to him, looking him over with hope in his eyes. "You're a digimon tamer that has come to help us fight, right?"

Digimon? Tamer? He should know these terms, but nothing came to him. His mind was like this world, a void with a smattering of pillars. The dragon looked at him for an answer that he couldn't provide.

"You're Ryo right? I'm Monodramon. We were waiting for you to come," the dragon continued unabashedly, ignoring the boy's silence. "Will you come with me? I was asked to bring you to him upon arrival. Please, come."

Reaching out with one of his claws, involuntarily making the small wing attached to his arm spread out, he took Ryo's free arm to drag him along. For a second the dragon saw the ruined digivice in Ryo's hand. The boy was clutching it as if his life depended on it.

"A-are you all right?" Monodramon asked, but the only answer he got was a brief glance before the boy looked away.

"I'll take you to ENIAC; he can explain things better than I could."

ENIAC? Ryo wondered, still not breaking his silence. Again the feeling nagged at him that he should be aware of that name. So many things he should know. As if trying made it harder he couldn't cling on to any memory, even the few he thought he had were as elusive as mist.

"ENIAC is the world's main computer, you could even call it the Digital World," Monodramon said, reading Ryo's questioning expression. He wondered why the boy wasn't talking to him, but perhaps Ryo was just overwhelmed by where he was.

"We're almost there," Monodramon said, pointing to a different kind of hexagonal pillar. Smaller than the ground they walked on, barely a few meters in diameter; at first glance it seemed to be made of glass with an opening in its base. But it glowed of its own volition, unlike glass, a pillar of light. Plastic that wasn't plastic, glass that wasn't glass. Ryo looked at it sceptically, there was nothing inside of it as far as he could see and he could see right through it.

Then they entered, and he was suddenly somewhere else. The room was far larger than the pillar they had entered and was filled with all kinds of machines, metal plating and screens with blinking lights. A metallic column rose from the centre of the chamber and hovering above it was a ball of bluish-white light surrounded by two rings of the same hue.

"Yes, our houses have a tendency to be a lot bigger on the inside," Ryo said absentmindedly, so low as to be unheard. Someone once said that to him, long ago it now seemed. He had seen its like before, a house that was bigger than it should be. Frustratingly the few things he was starting to remember raised more questions than they answered, but at least he was remembering something. The thing was, he was sure it was only scratching a bare minimum of the surface.

"Ryo, this is the ENIAC," Monodramon said, gesturing to the glowing ball of light. "At this point in time he's the world's main computer, as I told you. Right now we're being targeted by Millenniumon, who has been flung into the distant future. But you already know this, right?"

Monodramon smiled at him, but found himself faltering as he looked into Ryo's blue eyes, eyes that didn't show a spark of recognition. ENIAC, Millenniumon, names of importance, now names that meant nothing at all.

"In order to defeat you he may aim to destroy this world," Monodramon said, waiting for a response, but receiving none, "You know Millenniumon right? Don't, don't you r-remember?"

"Monodramon," ENIAC spoke, his voice seemingly coming from everywhere around them. "This was unavoidable."

"Unavoidable?" Monodramon questioned.

"The intense fighting Ryo has gone through has left a tear in his soul. He has lost his memories," ENIAC explained. The young dragon put a claw over his face, pressing his eyes closed. He had heard about Ryo, a lot, giving him hope that he would become their saviour as well by defeating Millenniumon once again. Without his memories, that seemed impossible.

ENIAC wasn't finished though. "To help save this world from Millenniumon, the evil god, you shall become the partner to support Ryo."

"M-me," Monodramon exclaimed, unable to stop himself from stuttering. It was a habit he tried very hard to control, and he could for the most part. Only in extreme duress did it rear its ugly head, and this was one of those times. "B-but to fight against M-mi-mi-Millenniumon, I can't. My duty was to accompany Ryo here, n-not to, to fight."

* * *

The demonic chimera, dark god of destruction and proclaimed lord of time, though those were only a few of the things he was called, shook violently. Rarely did anything affect him anymore, not since his body had been destroyed. A bodiless spirit, but unlike ghosts from classical stories he was still very much present in the world. Two pairs of glowing red eyes, set in two draconic heads, one a dark blue and the other red, looked out into the chamber that was the seat of his power.

His throne, a golden circle, was connected through many data streams to the networks of the world. Networks that by all rights should've been his by now, but sparks came from those data streams and, through the throne, into his body. Roaring in pain, lashing out with two powerful claws, he cut the connection.

"Why," Millenniumon spoke, his dual voice sounding both resigned and enraged at the same time, "are the networks not mine yet? Despite everything I've done, the resistance continues to oppose me. Is it true that absolute control is impossible? No, that is something I can never accept."

For a moment the twin-headed ruler of the future looked thoughtfully at the wall to his right, but he wasn't seeing the heavily enforced slabs of metal. Seemingly looking beyond that, to another chamber located nearby, he thought of the forms growing in vats filled with green liquid.

"No matter how much power I bring to bear it is difficult to make the world my own completely," Millenniumon said thoughtfully. A plan was forming in his tormented psyche. The voices were always there, congratulating him, criticising him, trying to wrestle control of his spiritual body from him. It had always been like that, but now, without a true physical form, it was becoming harder to resist. His body was now formed completely through his own willpower, but if he were to lose control even for an instant… His blue head growled, things like that didn't matter, being the victor over everything did. Simple, yet elegantly so.

Forming from nothing most of the vats showed only small forms, embryos still, but with increased growth potential. Only one was completely formed, and though the being floating inside was his he had not created that one. Just moulded him to, generally, pleasing results. But just like the world outside his fortress there was a resistance within that one, a will of its own, a thing that wouldn't allow itself to be stamped out – stubborn, he could appreciate that. He had resisted destruction time and again as well.

"That's the solution then, existence intrinsically resists its own demise. However," Millenniumon mused, speaking his thoughts out loud, "if my world can be formed from zero. If the world of the past can be destroyed and history itself altered."

He chuckled, and for once his psyche was in full agreement. "By sending the data of digimon into the past from the future the streams of time will become unhinged and the path cleared to the father of the networks. From zero only I will build a new world, a convergence of all time and space, and all entities, be they human, digimon or network data, will change into a world that shall solely exist for my benefit!"

* * *

Monodramon's self-restraint was severely taxed at that moment. For his encounter with Ryo he had expected a certain amount of confusion, but not in himself. Ryo, however, caused just that. But that wasn't all, foremost on his mind was a singular notion. Pure, undeniable panic. Who else, except for Ryo, if he still had his memories, and the ENIAC itself, knew better just how dangerous Millenniumon was than he did; the assistant of the source of all Digital Worlds itself. For some time – though given the nature of a conflict between past and future the usage of the term 'time' as a useful denomination was questionable – they had been under attack. Causality itself was being turned in on itself, where the effect was the cause instead of the other way around. It was unnatural. More and more power was needed to deal with the emergence of splinter realities, but even for the ENIAC the time was fast approaching when even he couldn't contain the damage anymore. Such was the threat of Millenniumon. And now he was expected to fight this thing?

"ENIAC, please, it's impossible," Monodramon implored, "I don't stand a chance against Millenniumon! Right? Right?! Ryo, you tell him!"

Still Ryo didn't answer, but he did give the dragon a sympathetic look. Somehow, being drafted into an impossible battle sounded familiar to him. Familiar and painful.

"Why won't you say anything? Is the amnesia the cause of your muteness?" Monodramon asked.

"Monodramon."

"I-I understand," Monodramon said, resigning himself to what he knew had to be done. It should've occurred to him before that Ryo, when he would finally arrive, would come alone. No matter the infamy surrounding him he was just a human boy at heart. He needed a digimon partner to bring out his full strength. Who better to assist him than the ENIAC's personal assistant, one who was seconded only by the ENIAC itself when it came to knowledge of the alternate realities and time? Probably he had already known but was simply deluding himself.

"You," Ryo finally said slowly, choosing his words carefully. His need to know about his past had won, at least for the moment, over his deeply rooted reluctance to speak. The mere sight of a digimon was unnerving him. "You know who I am? About my past?"

"Yes Ryo," ENIAC confirmed, "I know of your past, several of those, and of your future. Actually, several of those as well."

"How is that possible," Ryo asked, "The future hasn't happened yet and I can only have one past, there's only one _me_."

"Don't you know anything about temporal mechanics?" Monodramon asked.

Ryo shrugged. An almost sarcastic smile played on his lips. "If I did I can't remember it."

"Oh, right." Monodramon's cheeks flushed for a moment, not that it was very visible given the purplish colouring of his scales. "ENIAC, please define: Quantum Mechanics, many-worlds interpretation."

"Quantum mechanics, a subset of quantum field theory and quantum physics, is one of the vital pillars of physics," ENIAC started. The subject was second nature to him, as well as for his young assistant. His son, in a way, like all digimon were.

"A theory that deals with so called paradoxes in the quantum theory, and from our relative frame of reference not yet conceived, is the many-worlds interpretation. It states, in simple terms, that everything that can happen does happen in its own universe with its own history. At a crux point, the formulation of a decision for example, reality splits in two, or more, separate realities that are each comprised of one possible outcome of the decision."

Well, that explains everything, Ryo thought sarcastically, but he kept those thoughts to himself. Insulting someone in their own home was terribly impolite, and they were only trying to explain things to him. More importantly he needed to be on their good graces if they were to tell him of his past.

"You don't understand, do you?" Monodramon asked.

"Sorry," Ryo replied, "I don't get it. How does this answer my question?"

"Well, simply put," Monodramon said, thinking up an analogy that could make things clearer for the boy, "There's a world where you were born, but it's equally possible that you weren't born, so each of these events happened in their own universe and time goes on from there for both of them. In the one where you lived there's a branching of the universe into one where you did go to the Digital World and one where you didn't."

"I see, so that's why I have more than one past and more than one future," Ryo said, looking pensive, "So, if you know of my past, can you tell me about it?"

"Yes Ryo," ENIAC answered, "I can tell you everything you have done up till this moment, but it would avail you not."

"Why not?"

"We've broached the subject of the tyrant Millenniumon a few times already," ENIAC clarified, "But that triggered no response?"  
"No, it didn't," Ryo said. There was tugging somehow when confronted with that name, but his mind wasn't forthcoming with any information. Almost as if he was fighting remembering. "So you can't help me?"

"ENIAC didn't say that," Monodramon said hastily, "But right now, we are the ones who need help."

"With this Millenniumon?"

"Yes, you've fought him several times before and beaten him every time," Monodramon said.

"Obviously not good enough," Ryo replied.

"That's something that couldn't be helped," ENIAC said, "Millenniumon is a powerful force and you are the only one who has managed to defeat him, more than once."  
"Please help us Ryo," Monodramon pleaded.

Ryo sighed. The last thing he wanted, the last thing he felt like doing, was fighting. There was only pain down that road, he was sure of it. Yet he was asked for help.

The ENIAC sensed his reluctance. "This must all be rather sudden for you. Your digivice is broken and without it there is little you can affect. Monodramon, please take Ryo to see the workshop. Regardless of his ultimate decision we can do this for him, and something more. To us it has little value by itself; it shall be passed to Ryo."

"You'd help me even if I won't help you?"

"I told you, I know of your past. You have a good heart and the decision you'll come to will reflect that."

* * *

Another building, separated from the hexagonal world outside, smaller than the chamber that housed the spirit of the ENIAC, served as one of the rare workshops of the commune. As far as Ryo understood this was the Digital World at this moment in time, the very beginning, different from all its later incarnations, including the one he had come from. Like his memory it was a blank slate, waiting to be filled with possibilities.

"Impressive, something sure did a number on this thing," Nanomon commented. The android digimon was prodding and probing the ruined remains of Ryo's digivice with its appendages and cables. Though the strange looking mechanic was friendly enough, using his expertise and the possibilities of the ENIAC to not only restore his digivice, but improve upon it as well, there was something about him that made Ryo uncomfortable, more than just the feeling he got from being around digimon. Or perhaps it was being around a few right now that spurred his unease. Holding on to that feeling he tried to force himself to remember, but the only result was frustration.

"Ach, jus' shut it," Nanimon said. Even stranger than Nanomon the bearded digimon's face was also his body, muscular and squat. Normally he resided in another shop, but for their joint customer he had come over to Nanomon's workplace, "So, can ye be fixin' it or nae?"

"If I couldn't, my linguistically challenged friend, you wouldn't be here now to 'talk shop'."

Despite appearances the two shopkeepers, whose only similarity seemed to lie in their names, were good friends. Each supplemented the other in many fields, Nanomon worked on hardware, like the digivice, while Nanimon did the more software related dealings.

"These be the cards," Nanimon said in a conspiratorial tone. "Been keeping me up fer days preparing 'em. Most powerful cards ye ken, pack a serious punch so be taekin' care using 'em."

"Device cards?" Ryo said, letting each card slip through his fingers. They seemed like ordinary trading cards to him, nothing that could help against even a small digimon like the over-enthused white thing that, even now, was chattering outside the portal that served as a door. A friendly fellow, but his childlike behaviour quickly made tempers flare; as such he was banned from any of the shops in the commune. It didn't bother the little thing in the slightest though.

"Aye," Nanimon grinned.

"As soon as this is finished," Nanomon said, "You will be able to use those cards in conjunction with your new digivice to increase Monodramon's strength in combat."

"Really?" Ryo said, suddenly looking at the five cards with greater interest while Monodramon groaned at the reminder of combat. So different from V-mon, Ryo thought distractedly. It took a few seconds for him to realize he had just remembered something. But a stray memory didn't tell him all that much, not without a proper context.

He remembered that the blue lizard, with a zest for life and combat, was his friend. They met in the Digital Word and had subsequently saved it a few times. A saviour of a world, and he couldn't remember a thing about it. Not how he had done it, not how he was supposed to do it again, and yet people were counting on him. ENIAC was right; the decision had been reached by that first plight. He had to do his utmost not to fail them. If only he knew how to do that. Kings Device, Queens Device, perhaps the answer to his dilemma lay in the cards.

For the briefest of moments the lights of the chamber flashed off and a tremor, a mild one though definitely stronger than the previous one only minutes earlier, made the digivice quiver on Nanomon's workbench. More and more power was drained in the effort to repel, repair or undo the damage of Millenniumon's incursions into the past, but it took away from the power needed to sustain the Digital World.

"This isnae guid," Nanimon said. Somewhat distressed he turned to the labouring android. "Ye better makin' haste now. Gettin' worse."

"Artists can't be rushed," Nanomon said calmly, but it seemed to Ryo that he was nevertheless moving faster.

* * *

The white menace and, jokingly, called the scourge of the Digital World, followed Ryo and Monodramon all the way back to the large chamber of the ENIAC. It chattered, non-stop, the entire time.

"You're the Akiyama Ryo aren't you," Culumon said, putting extra emphasis on the word 'the'.

"The tremors and the flashes will be gone soon right? Can you tell me about your many adventures? I thought you'd be taller. Would you like to play a game? How did you defeat Millenniumon before? You'll win again of course. How are you planning to defeat him this time? He scares me though. Are you scared of him, no, of course the Legendary Tamer wouldn't be scared of someone like him."

Monodramon groaned and increased his pace, but that didn't deter the small digimon from fluttering all around them, his inquisitive eyes sparkling with playfulness and curiosity. Chattering too fast to keep up Ryo did not have a single chance to answer any of the questions, if he had answers to give to begin with.

Culumon didn't stop talking, not even when they crossed the portal leading from the hexagonal world to the central chamber of the super computer.

"What did mister Nanomon and mister Nanimon give you? Special weapons? They are so smart; don't you think they are smart? A little cranky though, but perhaps that's what happens when you are smart. Say, you are smart too aren't you Ryo? You have to be if you beat Millenniumon. So, are you cranky too? You don't look cranky, but you don't say much either. Or am I talking too much? I do that sometimes."

"Only some times?" Monodramon muttered testily.

"Culumon," ENIAC said. Just calling the little digimon by his name, his tone calm without any sign of admonishment was enough to silence the happy child.

"Culu," he said cutely, settling down on the ground next to Ryo.

"What? That's all it takes?" Monodramon muttered in mild surprise. It was the first time that he had ever seen the small digimon so quiet, or in one place for more than a few seconds at a time. "Ow." Rubbing his shin the dragon gave Ryo, standing at his side looking innocent, a cross look.

"Ryo, have you decided?"

"You said you knew my heart, you must know what I decided," Ryo said, to the delight of Monodramon and Culumon.

"There seems to be little time left, but I have some questions, if you don't mind?" Ryo said, looking up at the glowing ball of light. What surprised him most about the creator and source of the Digital World wasn't his appearance, but the fact that he wasn't more surprised at all.

"Time is relative, ask your questions."

"You told me Millenniumon is evil, that I fought him a few times, but what is it you want me to do? Obviously no matter what I did he still came back, how will this time be any different? So, why me, if I was never able to make my victory permanent? And, how can you help me regain my memories? If I'm from the future, far from the future, there are no memories for me here."

"If we do nothing all is lost, with no more second chances. As much as it pains me, forcing you to shoulder the burden, there is no other way. None but you can do this, history and providence have conspired against you in this, pinning this role upon you.

It is our greatest hope that after this you will be free of the burden of fighting him, but regardless of what comes after he must be dealt with now. You understand our need, as well as your own, in this. This was never solely about the Digital World; it's about Earth as well. Friends, family, all will suffer if he is allowed to succeed. To understand this, you must know what it is he seeks from this place and why this is so dangerous."

"It's like this," Monodramon said, taking over from his mentor. "Recall what we told you about the existence of multiple worlds. For the Digital World everything has its origin here, in the ENIAC. Everything that can happen happens, creating a split in reality. For the Digital World, all those worlds, the origin is here and so this place is also a part of each of those realities. The source. One place, but present in potentially infinite universes. In reverse all those places are also present here, to be overseen by the ENIAC.

Imagine throwing a regular dice, there are six possible results to your throw, one to six. Each outcome is equally likely, so with one throw the world is split in six instances. But, consider that you win with a six and lose with everything else. In this case it doesn't matter if you throw anything other than six as you will lose otherwise. ENIAC, overseeing all the realities, will merge the first five into one and will instead continue with two realities, one in which you won and one in which you lost."

Ryo nodded. "Sounds logical."

"ENIAC can only do this however with realities he's currently tracking, but Millenniumon's interference is disrupting the flow of time. From the perspective of the past the future hasn't happened yet, and so it's fluid and can be traversed without causing problems. But this isn't the case when one goes back from the future. An effect will always follow a cause, but if you can go back into the past than an effect to a cause can be the cause of an earlier event, throwing off causality."

"You lost me there," Ryo confessed. Not sure where all of this was heading, or if there even was a point to be reached to this highly theoretic explanation. All he wanted were some simple answers.

"Okay, think of it as throwing a rock in a pond, it'll send out ripples all over the surface. That's what going back in time does; only in this case the ripples are alternate realities created because suddenly there's a presence there that isn't supposed to be there, affecting what's going on."

"That's what Millenniumon is doing?" Ryo asked.

"Yes, he's trying to take control of the ENIAC by sending his minions into the past. With time travel it's more important to focus on when you are supposed to arrive rather than where, because of the things that can go wrong if you are too early, for example. But that doesn't mean that the place is not important. Millenniumon doesn't, exactly, know the time or the place of the source, but with each attempt he's getting closer. And the splintering of realities from his incursions is taxing on the ENIAC, so he's less able to resist future incursions."

"So, what is it you want me to do?" Ryo asked.

"For the moment it is imperative that you regain your memories and that the strain of the disruptions on me is lessened," ENIAC spoke, "Fortunately we can do this at the same time. I'll be sending you and Monodramon into the splintered realities. When an invader arrives the reality is ripped apart, sometimes into several threads, but only one will have the invader. In an empty world it's enough for you to simply be there to bring it back within my sphere of influence. This is also where we'll start this venture. In the other cases it's imperative that the temporal invader is taken out before the world can follow its proper course and be put back into a predetermined reality. At the same time you two are doing this the experience of these realities will help train you and help in making you remember."

"All right," Ryo said, after some hesitation. Why did the super computer's proposal bother him? It seemed like the right thing to do, killing two birds with one stone. Killing? Had he killed before? No, he'd remember something like that. Strange how he'd suddenly think of something like that while on the verge of stepping through other dimensions, other worlds, a great adventure. But the word, 'kill', somehow made him feel cold. Don't think about, he thought he heard a voice, a kind voice, say in his head.

"It's imperative that you remember Ryo, if not, and you can't defeat Millenniumon, he'll destroy this place," ENIAC said, "When that happens all the Digital Worlds that could ever be will be destroyed along with me, because this is the source of all. You must remember, Ryo."

"You're ready?" Monodramon asked.

"As I'll ever be," Ryo answered. "Besides, we don't have any choice, do we?"

"No."

On the far wall, behind the metal pedestal, a panel seemed to slide open, though in reality there was no change in the geometry of the room at all. A doorway of pure white light was revealed, a portal to another dimension created by the ENIAC. A collection of voices, slightly garbled, came through, voices in need of help.

* * *

The brunet, backed up against a tree, looked around for a way out. But there seemed to be none for him or the young digimon he held in his arms. They were cornered, but there was no way he was giving Culumon over to the rebellious group he had tried to get away from by entering the forest. The digimon had followed, and before Takato realized it he was herded right to the clearing. Within this clearing, there was no more way to go. Forest everywhere, completely devoid of any help, any direction leading only to more trees.

"Not so tough are ya, without that stupid saurian at your side," Impmon taunted and his Pagumon followers laughed. The small demon was right, without Guilmon it would be hard, if not impossible, to get Culumon to safety.

"This isn't fun anymore," Culumon sniffled.

"It's gonna be lots of fun when you get to my side." Impmon teased, but Culumon shook his little head emphatically.

"But I don't like Impmon."

"You'll never get Culumon," Takato said. With some effort, more than he was ever willing to show them, he formed a grim smile. "You'll never get what you want, Impmon."

"Why you little rats," Impmon hissed, going into a tirade against them. This was his moment, after all, and they had no right to ruin it. With Culumon he'd finally have the power to evolve and take his rightful place in the world. Who knew, maybe he'd even elevate his gang up along with him, a lord did need proper retainers after all.

Takato did not look impressed, but with every second that the imp was ranting he had a second more to think up a plan. None was forthcoming though, after all the trouble they had suffered from the small-time gang leader he knew he couldn't just run. Impmon would shoot him in the back for sure. There was no escape from the flames for him, and in that realization he came to his plan. It would hurt unimaginably, but it could work. He had to make it work, just long enough for Culumon to get out of sight. Ruki or Jenrya would protect him further.

A movement from behind the gang caught Takato's attention and he couldn't help but gawk in shock. He realized too late he had just ruined any chance for these new arrivals of mounting a surprise attack. As surely as he did the two henchmen, through his expression, were alerted to the sudden change. In his ranting Impmon remained oblivious to his surroundings, a failure that had cost him before and was now likely to do the same.

"Uhm, lord Impmon, sir," a Pagumon tried to say, but he had a hard time getting through his boss' monologue.

"Culu, are you playing tag? Who's it?" Culumon sounded cheerful, flying in from the trees. Behind him Ryo and Monodramon also entered the clearing.

"Lord Impmon?!" Pagumon shouted again, his bunny ears pointing excitedly towards the second Culumon and the other two interlopers.

"Lord Impmon!"

"What?" Impmon shouted, finally turning to look. His eyes fell on the second Culumon, and the dreams of power that came with the little digimon. Two Culumon, twice the power, it was almost too good to be true.

"I don't believe it, it's you," Takato said softly, but no one was paying attention to what he was saying. His desperate plan of using his own body to shield Culumon from Impmon, while the little runt escaped, was quickly forgotten.

"You guys, capture that Culumon!" Impmon commanded. With no other choice than to obey their boss, even though the two Pagumon were far from sure they had what it took to beat the dragon accompanying their prey, they went for it. It was either that or become toast, courtesy of their boss' fiery temper and even hotter fireballs.

"Monodramon," Ryo said, not quite sure what he was supposed to do in this situation. Supposedly he had experience with these sorts of things, but his amnesia kept what he needed to know from his mind. Worse, he was experiencing something he didn't expect. "Do you think you can do something about this?"  
"Do something? Like fight?" Monodramon asked, a bit perplexed at the passivity of his new partner. He had hoped – though he realized now it was an idle hope – Ryo's memories would come back at the sight of trouble, or at the very least that the boy had some instinct regarding fights. Because, having lived in the ENIAC for his entire life, he had no experience in fighting himself.

"That would be a good idea," Ryo said. He couldn't look away from a ball of fire, a small one, balanced atop Impmon's finger.

"Poison Bubbles," the two Pagumon called out, shooting a string of pink bubbles at Ryo and Monodramon. The young dragon side-stepped them without much difficulty, and doubted that act was even necessary. He heard a muffled clatter, and turned to find the new D-Arc on the ground.

* * *

The feeling was overwhelming, coming up almost out of nowhere. No, not out of nowhere, it was there all along with every digimon he saw. Only now, when they were so obviously hostile, did the fullness rear its ugly head.

All Ryo could see was that small, ignominious ball of flames. In stark contrast all he felt was cold, like his stomach had turned to ice and was taking the rest of his body with it. When had he ever felt so much fear, Ryo wondered? And why, these were only a Child level digimon and two Baby II runts. Numbed, and trying to shake it off, he didn't realize he had just called on knowledge of which he had no conscious recollection.

In a small pack he had the cards Nanimon had given him. With them this encounter was assuredly theirs; all he needed to do was draw upon them. Yet his fingers, not far from them, didn't move. He couldn't move. The fingers of his other hand shook, and he barely heard the Pagumon speak.

Bubbles snapped against his body. He had seen them coming, wanting to avoid them. The attack was pain, but even if he moved pain was inevitable. He knew not how he knew this, only that digimon were pain. Ever since the first day, now unknown, the hurting had begun. The D-Arc slipped through his fingers, falling to the ground. He had just lost the only weapon he had, just as he had lost himself.

"Ryo," Monodramon whispered urgently, and finally the boy was able to look away from the fire. He noticed his shirt was clammy and soapy, but otherwise the bubbles hadn't caused him any harm.

"They're only Baby II level, for goodness sake," Ryo said with some exasperation. He felt angry both at himself for his failings and his new partner for looking to him, of all people, for instructions. Why did they always turn to him? "Just improvise."

"Right," Monodramon said, setting off against the ground and catapulting himself right at the two fluffy balls. "Beat Knuckle." The dragon's two fists only needed a single hit on the Pagumon to knock both of them out, but those two were never the real threat, Impmon was.

"Punks, if you think that impresses me, you're wrong,' Impmon said, turning his back on the cornered Takato and Culumon in favour of this new development.

Never minding the threat and standing between the two prone bodies, Monodramon looked back to his partner. "Hey Ryo, how did you know what level they were?"

"I, I don't know." Ryo shrugged, but smiled slightly as he realized what the dragon was hinting at. Since coming to the ENIAC he hadn't encountered a Pagumon, but he knew their level on sight regardless of that. Just like he knew what level Impmon was, though he didn't remember ever meeting a digimon like that in person.

"Seems like you're starting to remember things already," Monodramon said.

"Seems like it." It should've made him happy, but his stomach still felt like a block of ice. They were winning, but he was still afraid, so very afraid. Ryo grimaced_. Gods of the Digital World, ENIAC, what have you put me through that leaves such a pain in my heart?_

"Night of Fire!" Impmon shouted, the indignity of being ignored getting the better of him. The small ball of fire left his fingers, but it did not stay small as it drew power from the air it passed. With a start Monodramon scurried out of harm's way. Fighting this little demon would not be as easy as it was taking out the Pagumon. Ryo's hand went to his small collection of cards, but stopped when he realized his D-Arc was still on the ground. More, he knew this one's level and from what he heard Millenniumon was a most powerful digimon, at a level far beyond this imp. It didn't bode well if he needed to use a powerful boosting card against a Child level digimon. But, with the alternative of getting roasted, what other choice did he have?

One day, should he live that long, he realized he'd look back on this moment in shame. Fear won out, and he took a card at random from his small collection. In a swift motion he crouched, picked up his remodelled digivice, and rose to his feet again with every intention of using this new power. Maybe he'd even find a way to justify his act to others – but never himself – as a test run for getting a feel of the cards.

"Ignoring me, you ba-" Impmon said, but his taunt devolved in a howl of pain. Grabbing his crotch he sank to his knees, his mouth still open but no sound was coming out anymore. For a moment the others there were just as surprised, though not in nearly as much pain, as Impmon. Even Takato, who had taken the cheap shot of kicking the imp from behind, looked sheepish as he backed away from him and the tree.

"Uhm, Monodramon," Ryo said, rubbing his head self-consciously, the card still between his fingers. As sudden as it had come up, the irrational and overwhelming fear vanished. Such a pathetic sight was worth only contempt and perhaps even sympathy but not fear. Without looking he put back the unknown card. "Take him out of his misery will you?"

"Beat Knuckle," Monodramon said, punching Impmon back into the tree against which the imp had held the brunet and the young digimon trapped. With a grunt he slumped down, as unconscious as the other two thugs.

"Should I finish it completely?" Monodramon asked. None of Millenniumon's minions were in this reality, so it wasn't necessary to kill anyone per se. As an easy beginning ENIAC had send them to a splinter without an invader. Here it was only necessary to be there to draw the reality to Ryo, and thus to ENIAC. Upon leaving things would fix themselves. What he was interested in, was how Ryo was going to react. He had to know this saviour's mettle and so far was left disappointed at nearly every turn.

"No, please," Takato said hastily. Even after all the trouble Impmon had caused he was still firmly against taking the lives of digimon unless it was absolutely necessary.

"If you insist," Ryo said, "But if you let him live he'll just try again later."

"I know, but still," Takato said, looking at Impmon's prone form, "I think he's punished enough for today."

"Can't argue with you there," Monodramon grinned, still feeling pumped from his first fight.

"With him out for the moment I can take Culumon somewhere safe and also find Guilmon," Takato said, now looking at Ryo with a look that seemed a lot like admiration. It made Ryo uncomfortable, given his actions, or lack thereof. He was not deserving of any praise; Takato was the one who beat Impmon while he dropped his D-Arc.

"In that case, good luck," Ryo said, "Monodramon, let's go."

"Uhm," Takato spoke up, before they could leave, "You're Akiyama Ryo aren't you? The legendary Tamer?"

"Wow, Ryo's really, really, famous," Culumon said.

"Who is Ryo?" the native Culumon asked. Tilting his head slightly sideways he looked up at the focus of his attention while the other Culumon hopped around him excitedly. It was the first time he had ever seen another of his kind and he looked like he liked to have fun as well.

"Are you kidding?" Takato said excitedly. "Akiyama Ryo is also called the King of Digimon. He's won all card tournaments he's ever been on until he disappeared one day." Now Takato looked slightly confused. "You are him aren't you?"

"In a manner of speaking," Ryo answered. He couldn't help but be evasive.

"We're not from around this dimension," Monodramon supplied.

Taking great effort not to gawk in shock Ryo kept quiet, wondering how wise it was to blab information like that around. Even he had a hard time believing in different dimensions and time travel, and he had actually seen the ENIAC. Takato hadn't, so he'd probably just think them crazy, even if they were accustomed to the strangeness of digital life forms, this went just a step too far for most people.

"But we had to come here to fight the greatest threat ever known, Millenniumon."

"Millenniumon, a virus type Ultimate digimon. He's the ultimate chimera of darkness and hate, a true dark god who controls time and dimensions. His attacks are Time Unlimited and Dimension Destroyer and he can actually evolve into two more powerful forms, Moon-Millenniumon and Zeed-Millenniumon. He can only be born form the fusion between a Chimeramon and a Mugen Dramon," Takato recited from memory.

"You really know your stuff," Ryo said.

"I've even got a Chimeramon card in my deck," Takato said, ruffling through his deck of cards, "here."

"Chimeramon," Ryo said. He took the offered card, face down, gingerly, feeling suddenly anxious for no real reason at all. It was just a card and not a real digimon. _How pathetic, am I now jumping at cards too_, Ryo thought. Even admonishing himself he was nevertheless reluctant to turn it around. When he did, he saw something that struck a chord.

* * *

_Ryo stood watching, the scorched metallic plating underneath his feet creaking from the pressure of his presence, as a horrible mismatch of a digimon stood before a prone metallic dragon. Stray particles of green flame were dancing around some superheated bolts, but getting burned from those was the least of his troubles. _

_The chimera filled both him and his companion, a boy he could not make out for some reason, though he was sure he knew him, with dread. It had the upper body of a Greymon and the legs of a Garurumon. On his head he had the armour of a Kabuterimon and his tail was that of a Monochromon. Instead of two arms he had two pair instead, taken from a Devimon, Skull Greymon and Kuwagamon. The wings of an Airdramon and an Angemon sprouted from his back. This, Ryo knew, was Chimeramon, the biggest threat to the Digital World and the one they had tried to beat to the punch. But they had failed, the metallic tyrant dragon, Mugen Dramon, was only weakened and not destroyed. What was going to happen next was inevitable._

_"You don't have to keep watching," the boy said, his voice giving Ryo a different focus from the horror he was about to witness again. But he couldn't look away._

_"What merit is there for you in remembering this further?" the boy said again, slowly coaxing Ryo away from the fusion that would create Millenniumon, the one he would be forced to fight time and again. Behind him a cry of rage signified the beginning of the fusion._

_"You were the one who wanted to forget."_

_"Who are you?" Ryo asked._

* * *

"Yeah, Chimeramon," Ryo said slowly, his head felt a tad muffled from the rather sudden flashback – if it was a flashback. While he was glad that the ENIAC had proven true, that the visits to other dimensions would help him in regaining what he had forgotten, he was now left with more questions than answers. Chimeramon was familiar, but the feeling of failure overwhelmed the feeling of relief that his memories weren't gone forever. Perhaps, he now thought, it was better if he did not remember, as the boy from his memories was trying to tell him.

"I remember him now; he's got a lot of power. It should be useful for your deck."

"It's still nothing compared to the deck you have, right? This one is pretty much filled with common cards to help boost Guilmon. You must have some truly spectacular things," Takato said, feeling extremely happy to be able to talk to a boy who was practically a legend concerning digimon cards.

"Not exactly," Ryo conceded, "I've only got five cards on me now, and that's it really."

"You have to fight with only five cards?" Takato asked, almost unable to believe what he was hearing. True, if you did things right you could get through a battle by only slashing one modifying card, but with only five to chose from that left your options rather limited.

"We'll make due somehow," Ryo shrugged.

Takato wouldn't hear of it. "You can take my cards. I know they're not much, but it's better than nothing," he insisted, quickly shoving all of his deck in Ryo's surprised hands.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"These are just common cards, I can easily replace them," Takato said, happy as a kid on his birthday just by being able to help.

"Thank you," Monodramon said, "that's very kind of you."

"It's nothing," Takato said, blushing slightly as even Ryo was beaming at him. Such kindness ran counter to what he felt in his heart, and it pleased him.

* * *

Thoughtfully Millenniumon stared at the ornate door on the far wall of his chamber, but not really seeing it. Seldom did he look anywhere else but ahead, but equally seldom did he actually see the door as he was looking at it. He did now though, studying its intricate design, made per his explicit instructions. It showed a large, twin-headed, dragon poised over the fallen bodies of the world's gods, the four rulers, proxies, to the hidden serpent in the centre. The dragon was above them, accompanied by a human boy. A testament to a world that would soon be, and not the shadow of it that he ruled. Gods had fallen, but not all, warriors and armies had been raised and defeated, for both sides, but still it was not enough. Once the carving of that door had been important, now it was just another insignificant fancy.

His talons touched the ring that was his throne, the seat of his power but also his prison. He couldn't leave, taking over the networks was too important, even more so than taking out the resistance forces. Reaching out with his mind he touched upon the lines and connections of data, his spirit sneaking along them. But, as always, a thunderous shock went through him as he dug deeply. As always he was thrown back out again. The resistance endured, regardless of what he was sending into the past.

"Keep to your struggles, your stubborn resistance o spectre of the past. It's all you have left, all that will soon be taken from you. Oblivion is a fitting fate."

Unexpectedly, even for his many-faceted mind, he added to it in a voice filled with melancholy. "And a kindness, so you won't witness what will be wrought." Kindness, how unbecoming, he crushed it under the torrent of violent thoughts, to deep within his psyche.

From the door there came a reverent knock before two skeletal digimon, Skull Satamon, entered. His lieutenants, two of them at least, whom he had put in charge of the operation to invade the past. They had heard his roars as he was flung out of his endeavours of controlling everything, as was his right.

"Our deepest apologies, Lord Millenniumon," Skull Satamon said, bowing deeply halfway down the carpet to his throne, "The resistance is far greater than we anticipated."

"I see," Millenniumon said gleefully, much to the surprise of the two visitors. For their failure, or rather, lack of success, they had expected to be killed and replaced on the spot. But their unpredictable lord seemed happy with their difficulties.

"The enduring resistance can only mean that the ENIAC is still out of our reach, which should not be possible unless…he has revived in the past. Interesting, most interesting."

"He, my Lord?" Skull Satamon ventured to ask.

"The only one who can thwart my aspirations, but let us see if he can stop the next incursion. This new program will go through, to him. If he's beaten the ENIAC has lost and the past can be altered. That which opposes me will simply vanish."

"Deathmon, sir?" Skull Satamon said, inspecting the digimon their Lord was planning on sending back into the past next. It was powerful, possessing the ability to confuse its opponents, but it had a weakness. It could be overwhelmed if fought aggressively; if the chance at using its techniques was taken from the beast it could be beaten. If Ryo were to know this the battle would be one-sided, and easily won. Was their Lord truly serious about defeating that human boy?

"Ryo's not complete," Millenniumon said, almost to himself, as if the others weren't there, but did not elaborate on what he meant. It was always like this, the two lieutenants, the rash one who dared to ask questions and the other who preferred only to listen, knew. Talk in the shadows had cemented the fact that, while their Lord would let them work important tasks for him, he did not truly care for any of his underlings; not even his trusted lieutenants. "Not yet."

* * *

"Culu," Culumon said happily, again the first to rush through the ENIAC's gate. The three travellers stood on a grassy hill, one of many in a veritable rolling sea of green. It was the Digital World; one much like the one Ryo came from. "It's so pretty."

"Please, stop rushing in like that," Monodramon admonished, though he too was taken with the scenery, so different from the Digital World he was familiar with. "Remember what happened the last time? You could get hurt."

A scream came from behind a tall hill, a few of grassy mounds away. The first sign of trouble and Ryo was off, leaving his two companions behind as fast as his legs could carry him. Again he felt that ominous sensation begin to well up inside of him. He was running as much to the source of the outcry as he was running, futilely, from himself.

"Ah, wait," Monodramon exclaimed, taking to the air. He had been afraid at first of how his new partner would face up to the challenges ahead, without his experience or memories. Inexperience would limit what they could do, but time built new experiences, all he thought he had to do was stick with Ryo while that happened. His concerns, he believed, were to lessen in time. Instead they had grown; he saw something in Ryo that went beyond losing his memories.

At least his heart was in the right place. Ryo was still the first to respond to a cry for help, no matter who it was, whether he knew them or not. Rushing into danger was one thing; another was how he dealt with it. Could they truly do this, and was it right to put Ryo up to this so soon, were questions Monodramon was unable to answer. Leaving the young dragon conflicted for Ryo wasn't ready by far.

"Explosion Eye," a ghastly voice called out, making Ryo run even faster. The boy scaled the final hill when the explosion hit. From his vantage point Ryo saw a young brunette lie flat on the ground and a slightly older boy with roguish blond hair lying on top of her, the back of his clothing looking scorched.

"Hikari, are you all right?" the blond boy asked.

"For now, thanks Yamato," Hikari said, trembling slightly as she looked at the blast hole. A moment ago she had been standing right there. "Jyou?"

Another boy with blue hair and glasses was on his rear, looking at the large grey ghoul in panic. The three were alone, no digimon partners in sight.

"Ah, why does this keep happening?" Jyou cried, "First we almost get killed by the Dark Masters, then all of our enemies were revived and now we're all alone! I knew it; I just knew we were going to be killed here eventually."

"Monodramon, go," Ryo commanded, his voice suddenly hoarse. It was there, the same feeling, hammering at his sensibilities. Monodramon watched him, and saw it too. Ryo glared, prompting his partner into action. Fear wrestled with anger, at himself, and before he realized it he was already running down the other side of the hill. His hand went into the pack of cards he carried, sifting through them for something to use. His hand was shaking. "Culumon, stay back."

"Beat Knuckle." Monodramon said. Streaking low and staying as close to the ground as he could the little dragon flew straight at the ghoul, only to rise at the last second. Swallowing a lump in his throat, the enemy's size was even more impressive up close, he struck out at the creature's three pronged claw. To no avail, the yellow eye in the centre of the ghoul's hand simply watched him; the larger eye in the creature's body didn't even deign to look.

"Rookie," Deathmon chuckled, "Is that the best this timeframe has to offer?"

"You'll be surprised what we have to offer," Ryo said, coming to a stop near the blue haired boy. In his hands he held his modified digivice and a card he got from Takato. Now it was time to show this ghoul, and himself, what he could do. Takato had been star struck, and hadn't seen how he had debased himself. But Ryo knew it and Monodramon knew it. How could he help them, if he couldn't even stand the sight of a digimon? How could he help them if he had to admit, even if only to himself, that even the cute Culumon filled him with a kind of dread? Whether or not the trust placed in him was enough? This wasn't like that other dimension, against Impmon. This opponent was of a completely different calibre altogether. If he had checked the analyser on his new D-Arc he might've lost heart completely, Deathmon was an Ultimate.

"Card Slash, Meramon."

"Burning Fist," Monodramon called out, his little fists, enveloped completely by red flames, striking Deathmon's body in several places, on his arms, his back and his wings. The result was the same all over; nothing seemed to make a dent in the ghoul's undead body.

Deathmon's eye narrowed maliciously. "Death Arrow." The claw opened in front of the little dragon, who could see himself reflected in the yellow eye. A moment later he was flapping his wings frantically to evade the energy arrows that were shot from it, losing the flames surrounding his claws in the process.

Ryo almost bit his lip, with his wings attached to his arms the dragon was at a severe disadvantage, only clumsily able to strike and fly at the same time, alternating in keeping aloft, make a quick strike before being forced to stabilize himself in mid-air again.

"Card Slash, White Wings," Ryo said, not missing a beat. Pure white wings, like those of an angel, sprouted from his new partner's back, their position and girth enabling him to fly in a more stable fashion. Using these wings Monodramon first flew himself out of Deathmon's immediate range. The difference in power was too great, only a solid strategy could help now, Ryo realized.

"Interesting trick," Deathmon said. His large eye focused on the new boy, the one who had called out the alterations. Of the two the threat lied with him.

"You are not from here, are you?" He realized. "The one Lord Millenniumon was talking about?"

Their enemy had greater power and greater size; his skin seemed immune to what they were throwing at him. His grey hide, under the hits of Monodramon's fists it had bulged, showing it to be almost ephemerally flexible, but against the fire it had seemed as solid as a rock. Solid, but perhaps brittle. The attack had to be non-physical, Ryo surmised, in order to hit and very strong to get through its skin. He didn't have the cards for battering the ghostly thing sufficiently. Another weakness, surely this ghoul had to have one and he had to find it. Fast.

He had to think, but with every instinct telling him to run it was all he could do to stick around. Is this how a hero acts? He was cold, his hands were trembling. Two cards used, and the _White Wings_ had almost fallen out between his fingers. Everyone had to see, Deathmon with his large cyclopean eye, had to have seen.

"You're right, I'm not from around here. You don't miss a thing, with that big eye of yours," Ryo said, a slight smile playing around his lips. Somehow he should've seen it sooner, but he was just glad now that he saw it at all. Under the ghoul's gaze he slipped two cards from his pack. "Card Slash, Speed Plug-in C. Trust me Monodramon, nose dive, now!"

"Y-yes," Monodramon said. Unsure of what his partner wanted he went into a dive nonetheless. With the added speed and the extra power from his angelic wings he'd quickly reach Deathmon again. But none of his attacks were strong enough to do any harm to it. Still, ENIAC had partnered them and he had to believe that Ryo wouldn't intentionally cause him harm. He had to trust him, though sceptically he recalled the disappointment he experienced when Ryo had frozen before Impmon. A Child and their saviour was rendered useless. Even though Ryo was doing better this time the memory stayed with Monodramon.

"Death Arrow," Deathmon called out again, this time firing the shots from both his hands at the dragon. All of the black streaks missed, but once the card's effect wore off he'd be a sitting duck.

"Should have fired at me," Ryo said, only loud enough for the serious-looking Chosen on the ground with him to hear, and Jyou was looking very much like he couldn't believe what was happening either. Ryo had found the weakness he was looking for. The eye was solid, even if the rest of the body was not. Even knowing this his heart continued its relentless hammering. How cowardly. The moment was almost gone, most of it lost in his reflections. "Card Slash, Knights Device! Skewer him!"

Monodramon felt a strain on his body as the effect of one of Ryo's five special cards made itself known. The extra data that was forced on him was tough, like a program that runs out of memory, but he had to bear the brunt of it. It was the only way to beat the Ultimate they faced. In his claws a heavy lance appeared, something he could barely keep level with both of his claws. Without the added wings to his back he would have fallen out of the sky and without the extra speed he would've dropped the weapon before ever being able to reach the target. He knew what Ryo was planning now and, despite the strain, he grinned. ENIAC made no errors, of course he was right to entrust everything to this boy from the future. Even if he doubted it himself, he could never doubt his father.

The tip of the lance went cleanly through the large pupil, its length sinking deeply in the squishy material until it was buried up to the hilt. Both Deathmon and Monodramon stopped moving, the angelic wings that had held the dragon in the air evaporated and his speed returned to normal. Only by holding on to the lance did he keep aloft. Monodramon swallowed; if this hadn't worked there was no escaping. But his worries were unfounded; the weapon had done its job. It glowed briefly before disappearing, forcing Monodramon to flap his own leathery wings to stay in the air, to watch as the spectral Ultimate dissolved into fragments.

The three Chosen cheered, but their elation abruptly fell silent when they watched as Monodramon hovered inside the particle cloud, absorbing the data into his own body.

"What's he doing?" Jyou asked. The sight of one digimon practically eating another's remains was very upsetting for his delicate sensibility.

"This way," the girl said, "the digimon will not be reborn, will he? That's horrible."

"No," Ryo interjected, "This is necessary."

"What do you mean, Ryo?" Hikari said, walking up to him, "And why are you here, didn't you just leave with our partners to free the others from Millenniumon?"

Before she could reach him Yamato suddenly imposed himself between her and Ryo, giving their saviour a distrusting look, "Look out Hikari, this is not Ryo. Look at him, this guy is at least a year older. And those techniques, they're not natural."

Now it was Ryo's turn to look surprised, "Have we met before?"

"Culu," Culumon said, flying around the two boys before any hostilities could erupt between them, "No need for concern, we're here to help. To stop Millenniumon again."

"Again?" Jyou asked.

"Ah, please allow me to explain," Monodramon said, rushing over after completely absorbing the remains of Millenniumon's minion. It was best not to leave a trace of the temporal invader behind, just to make sure the transition was as smooth as possible. There was also something to be said for becoming more powerful himself with every piece of data he absorbed. Better not to mention that to the Chosen, that wouldn't go over to well, even though they had killed and would do so again, themselves.

"You're right, we aren't from here. You see, in the future, Millenniumon has revived and he wants to take over the past. That's why we're here; your present is a possible past for the Ryo you see before you. And that Deathmon was one of Millenniumon's minions; we have to make sure that he leaves so time can go on naturally in this place."

"So that's why you're here," Yamato said. The thought that Millenniumon had revived in the future did not bode well, but on the other hand it also meant that in the past, their present, he had been beaten. Somehow that was enough to set him, at least slightly, at ease. Lending Gabumon to Ryo had been a tough decision, but their Digital World was being distorted by Millenniumon, so they couldn't stay. Otherwise he would've joined Ryo in his fight. And then, it had been extremely bad luck to be cornered by Deathmon just while they were going to go back home.

"Don't you remember us?" Hikari suddenly asked.

"Sorry, I don't," Ryo answered.

"It's all the fighting," Monodramon said, taking up the explanation in Ryo's stead, "he's lost his memories."

Yamato frowned, but before he could answer his digivice, and those of the others, started to beep. The temporally distorted Digital World was already rejecting them now that they were no longer the captives of Vamdemon; a process halted only the anomaly that Deathmon had posed.

"Ryo, I've said this to your past self, I'll say it to you again. Thank you, for all you're trying to do for us," Yamato said while his body started to disappear.

"I'm sorry, Ryo, for all that you're going through for us. I'm sorry," Hikari said. Jyou seemed to want to say something as well, but they were all gone before any words came from him.

"Hikari," Ryo whispered, but the three Chosen were gone, leaving him alone on the grass with his own companions.

* * *

Rarely did the sky ever show its splendid blue hue anymore, and that day was no different than any other. Grey and black clouds held the sun at bay, preventing it from shining on the wasteland that the world had become after years of war. The cataclysm that Millenniumon had brought had left the land scarred. Nothing lived outside of his golden ziggurat, but that was only partly because of the barren land outside his walls. The population of two worlds, both Earth and the Digital World, had been nearly decimated and survivors were either in the service of the dread god or in hiding in the dark recesses of the world. Some still fought what was believed to be a losing battle. The resistance, a loosely structured organisation of Chosen and their partners, hounded and were in turn hounded, by the ruler's forces.

"Hurry," Kazuya, a blond haired boy dressed completely in black, from his jeans to his shirt to his jacket, called out to his companions. He almost tripped over some pieces of rubble, as he looked back to see if the others were still there, but managed to stay on his feet. He was driven by the sound of a galloping warrior, both man and horse, armed and armoured to the teeth, following them through the ruins of the City. A few times, just a few, they had almost managed to lose it in the natural maze the ruins formed, but the warrior was not alone.

A regal figure, though his dark blue suit was looking worn, flew high over the boy with his cape fluttering in the wind behind. The shadow cast was not whole, as rips could be clearly observed in the man's black and red cape.

"Bloody Stream," Vamdemon called out with just a hint of desperation in his proud voice. A whip of energy, red as the purest of blood, flew out from his hand.

"Phantom Turban," an eerie and airily voice, that of the dread general Lampmon, countered that of the vampiric count's. He hovered in the air majestically, a green giant that was half made of smoke, its lower body caught in a golden lamp. As if it were a living thing, like a snake, his turban unrolled, though it never seemed to lose its distinctive shape on his head.

In the middle of the space between the two the streams, one of cloth the other of energy, met. Despite all hopes the cloth wrapped around the energy, keeping it tight. With a mighty heave of his bulging muscles Lampmon swung the cloth of his turban and with it Vamdemon, around. Before Vamdemon could consider releasing his own hold on the energy whip Lampmon released him. With a mighty crash he hit a stone wall, almost breaking through it. Grey buildings, any colour the stones had was long since drained, were littered with holes, if they were even standing at all. The skyscraper, or rather the lower half of a skyscraper, withstood the brunt this time and the vampire half slid, half fell, the remaining distance to the ground.

"Golden Smoke," Lampmon said, and a mist of golden vapour settled around the fallen vampire. It showed him things, many things, that deep down he knew to be fake. It showed him safety and he was too weak from the beatings to resist. When the smoke cleared Pico Devimon was breathing heavily.

"Pico Devimon!" Kazuya cried out, kneeling next to his partner. While he was gently shaking his partner in an attempt to rouse him from the smoke induced stupor a hand came to rest gently on his shoulder. Confused at the gentle touch, he looked up into a dirty, but friendly face. Not the destructive touch of their pursuers that he was expecting.

"We'll have to carry him," Rieko said. The girl was an enigma, even covered in dust and ashes she still managed to look cheerful and radiant. She wore a flowing, pinkish, dress that reached to halfway to her ankles. That was part of her enigmatic charm. Everyone else, Kazuya included, wore sturdy and camouflaging material. In the gloom of the day and the pitch black of the night his attire kept him out of sight and the leather could stand up to being smacked around. Her dress was just too frail and so seemed she.

"Flower Cannon," Lilymon, her leaf-like wings fluttering, finished her circular trajectory around Lampmon, cupping her hands together and pointing them at his back. A pink flower formed around her hands and, when its bud opened, a green blast shot forth. It struck the back of his head, leaving a bunch of flowers behind that slowly drifted down to the ground.

She didn't stop there but immediately started to collect the stray rays of the sun into her body. Light was a rare quantity though and she had little time, but with the amount she had collected Lilymon raced forward nonetheless.

"Sun-crescent Kick," she called out, her feet glowing in light. Feet first she shot towards Lampmon, who had slightly turned to regard the fairy girl. Behind her a glowing trail of light and flowers followed.

She missed. Turning his body into a dark vapour he allowed the kicking girl to pass right through him. Though she turned around as quick as she could Lampmon was faster in becoming solid again, landing a punch against her slim body. With an outcry of pain she fell back, but she wasn't out for the count yet. A large spider leapt from one building to the other, catching her in her uncontrolled flight. Setting Lilymon off on the concrete of a high floor, through a window that had been freed of glass for a very long time, Dokugumon glared at the genie with her many eyes.

On the ground the galloping became louder as at the end of the street an armoured warrior, looking like an old Japanese shogun, who was a mixture of both horse and warrior, appeared. Zanbamon, brandishing his Zanbato sword, grinned wickedly under his golden facemask. To the Chosen children he appeared no different for it; his mask was always locked in a twisted caricature of a smile. As fast as his lower body, that of an undead horse, could take him he charged the small group.

"This is bad," Naomi said, adjusting the glasses on her nose. Quickly she brought up two items, a silver digivice and a small, and smudged, golden plaque. Both started to shine. "Do it, Dokugumon. Restrict and Disassemble."

"Dokugumon," the poisonous spider called out, "Evolve to, Archnemon!"

In the spider's place, perched against the grey rock, was now a woman with oversized hands and the bloated form of a spider for a lower body. With her eight legs keeping her in her vertical position, she blew her platinum white hair, as it fell all around her face, out of her sight.

"Yes, ma'am," she said, acknowledging her partner's orders. As always Naomi had a strategy. "Spider Thread."

Thick and sharp threads wrapped around Zanbamon's two swords, leaving them immobile. Setting off against the building she quickly descended upon him.

"Acid-" she started to say, but the galloping general was faster.

"Prison Gate of Beheading," he called out as if his swords weren't held in place. Giving a mighty slash the threads all broke. A pressure wave of energy slammed Archnemon dead on, taking the spider woman from sight. At Naomi's feet a yellow larva digimon fell to the ground.

"Human scum," Zanbamon said, approaching slowly now that his foes were beaten. There was nowhere for them to run to, he would catch up to them if they tried. "For opposing our Lord and Master, Millenniumon, you are hereby sentenced to death."

"Sorry guys, it's a bit too early for that," Angewomon, flying right out of the blue at high speed, stated.

"Oh man, we're in trouble." Kazuya swallowed, at once both glad for the angel's intervention and dreading what it meant for them later.

"These children weren't supposed to be here, so I'll be taking them home if you don't mind," she said, raising her arm to form a bow from the small feathers sticking out of her wrist. "Don't worry, they'll be properly disciplined."

"Lampmon, stop her!" Zanbamon shouted, "Cross Sla-"

"Phantom Tur-"

"Holy Arrow!" She called out, firing off two of arrows made of light. Colliding with the attacks of the two enemy generals the destroyed arrows gave off a brilliant flash of white light that lingered on the scene for several seconds. When it lifted, and the spots had vanished from the eyes of Lampmon and Zanbamon, they saw they were alone. The children, their partners and the angelic woman had vanished.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

Well, this was certainly the longest hiatus Legendary Tamer has suffered through to date, a little over a year if I'm not mistaken. Further, I'm not sure I'll make myself popular by saying that the draft for this chapter was written about a year ago as well.

The decision I made was to first finish all chapters of this third, and final, story arc before posting anything. Legendary Tamer is special to me for being the first story I ever put on the internet for others to read as well as being the longest I've ever written so far. The ending, I felt and still feel, deserves nothing more than the best I can offer. The people who stuck around over the years of this endeavour deserve the best.

I believe, looking back on the process, that it was a good decision. A lot of things were changed, added to and dropped, in the editing process of this piece. I found it hard to write Ryo's memory loss, and in the first rendition of this piece it added little to the plot. It's my belief that everything written into a story should add something of worth. The memory issues did nothing, which is now fixed and I'm finally happy enough to post this chapter.

What posting this chapter also means is that the other chapters, all the way to the epilogue, have been written. All they need, just like this chapter did, is to be edited and proofread. Not the easiest thing, as the total length of this story arc reaches another 100000 words (can't I do anything simple? I suppose not). But the super long waits are over.

Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed reading this (belated) chapter.


	29. The Lost One

**Chapter 28**

"_**The Lost One"**_

* * *

The ground crunched under his shoes, like the grinding of gravel. But when Ryo looked down he saw nothing, nothing but darkness and fog, with him walking on one and through the other. No texture anywhere. Regardless of what he heard, felt, or thought he did, that darkness wasn't gravel or anything like it. It simply existed. Just like the whiteness, that was everywhere too, obscuring the world from view. Visibility was barely a meter all around, if that even. It was almost enough to make him doubt there was even a world around him anymore. Trapped in darkness and light alike, Ryo couldn't discount that possibility. 

"Monodramon!" Ryo shouted, "Where are you?!"

Nothing. Not even an echo returned out of the barrier the mist formed. For all he knew he was all alone, wherever he was. He couldn't recall how long he had been trudging through what seemed like miles and miles of pure fog. He remembered coming through the portal of the ENIAC and the next thing he knew he was alone, what happened in the interval was simply gone from his mind. No Monodramon, no portal, nothing but mist without end in all directions.

"Monodramon!" Ryo called out again, straining to hear even the faintest of calls, but he heard nothing. "Where is that dragon? And where the hell am I?"

Annoyed by the lack of progress, and the absence of any visual cues that could tell him where he was, Ryo stopped for a moment. What use was there in walking after all when you got nowhere at all? Placing his hands on his hips he cast about in the sea of white. He got the distinct feeling that, though he saw nothing, that didn't mean there really wasn't anything around. Instead of nothing, anything could be around him. Silent predators, completely surrounding him, simply playing with him until tired of the game, until it was too late to do anything to save himself. A known feeling, this fear; dawning always at the presence of digimon. Familiarity exempted Monodramon, no one else. His mind was playing tricks on him.

Almost on instinct his hand went for his D-Arc, but where he expected to find it his hand touched upon nothing. The same with his cards, they were gone as inexplicably as the device. Not that they would do him any good alone, but it would've been reassuring to at least have them. Some times the semblance of power was as good as actual power.

Another thing gone, first he lost Monodramon, then he lost his way and now, with no clue as to when or where it happened, he had lost his only weapons as well. He knew no better moment to strike than now.

"Get a grip," he told himself, "There's no reason to assume there's anything in this fog, and if there was they wouldn't be able to see anymore than I. Unless, they go by hearing and hear me talking to myself." He finished sarcastically, but the attempt at lightening the situation failed when a hiss came from somewhere in front of him, or was that behind him? Hard to tell and the answer was neither as a dark shape started to materialize out of the dense mist at his side.

Not wasting another moment Ryo started to run away from the beast. The silhouette was far too big to belong to Monodramon and it was distinctly bug shaped. No matter how fast he ran the bug kept straight on his trail, not coming closer, but not backing off either. That was impossible to last. Ryo didn't know if it was his imagination or not, but at that moment he just knew the beast was going to lunge at him. Without hesitation he dropped flat on his stomach, keeping his body as close to the ground as he possible could. A small part noted that the surface was completely smooth, possessing of a faint heat. He felt, more than that he saw, the unknown predator pass over him.

Before the thing could stop and turn Ryo leapt back on his feet, running away in another direction. For the time being the bug was gone, but he wasn't out of trouble yet. In his rush to escape the predator he had lost track of where he was going. He believed he had managed to walk in a straight line, more or less, from where he entered this strange world. If necessary he believed he could've returned to his entry point, or close to it. A conceit perhaps, but one that had kept him going. Now, he was truly lost and about to be eaten.

Just great, he thought wryly. By his reaction he realized this wasn't the first time experiencing such a situation. Stoically Ryo slowed his pace. This was not the time to tire himself out prematurely. The fog would hide him, no need to run. No need to be afraid either, no need.

* * *

_Fear invites disaster._

* * *

"Hi." 

As sudden as it appeared Ryo stopped dead in his tracks. He could've sworn that, a moment ago, all that was in front of him was fog, with its detestable visibility or rather lack thereof. But now he stood on grass and what looked like a gilded children's blanket. Startled he quickly whipped his head back. Behind him, at least a few meters away, was a wall of fog. It surrounded, or more like enveloped, the pasture completely. The fog was restless, desiring to encompass the clearing and unable to do so. Some force kept it at bay, and it didn't like it. Or perhaps Ryo was projecting sentience on a phenomenon that possessed none in an attempt to explain what he saw. Ryo turned away from the swirling grey, for within this bubble he was not alone.

"Hi," Ryo said, tentatively walking to the source of the cheerful call, a boy a few years younger than he was. The voice, the appearance, they were both familiar to him but he couldn't place either of them. "I seem to have lost my way."

"It's hard to see in darkness, when you don't know where you are going or where you have been," the boy answered. He sat on a cube, one of several lying about. On closer inspection Ryo saw it was actually an oversized die. "And even that darkness is obscured. Unnatural, that. Don't you think so?"

"I suppose, the fog was really thick," Ryo said, taking a few more steps forward to the younger boy, at least by a few years. His bluish hair and wide curious eyes, eyes that seemed to know a lot more about what was going on, struck a familiar chord with him, making Ryo feel secure.

"What is similar about fog and darkness is that you can't see in either of them. If you can't see, how can you be sure there's anything there at all?" the boy replied.

"There's this really big bug after me," Ryo said, "perhaps we should get out of here?"

"Unsettling, fear can make you see things that aren't there, drawing from deep inside you. Kuwagamon was the first digimon to attack you." The boy tilted his head sideways, an inquisitive posture that was only accentuated by his large eyes and a knowing smile. But while he seemed knowledgeable the riddles in which he spoke were more confusing than explanatory. Nevertheless, the boy was right.

"That's right, I remember that now," Ryo said hesitantly, "I entered the digital world in a desert area and met V-mon." Briefly Ryo closed his eyes, to not let the strange place he was in distract him from the memory. "When we got out of the sand we were attacked. But how did you know?"

Though closed for less than a second, when Ryo opened his eyes again to look at the one who had triggered his memory, he only saw the pasture, with its gilded and wavy ground and its playpen building blocks. The boy was gone, but that was impossible, no one could have run away in the time he had his eyes closed.

"What is this, a dream?" Ryo asked himself out loud.

"And what makes you believe that, Akiyama Ryo?" another voice, cold, arrogant and assured, said from behind him.

* * *

_Doubt makes you waver_

* * *

Ryo wheeled about and into a completely different place. Gone was the slightly rolling, but soft, blanket. Gone were the walls of fog, the blocks and the dice. And it happened so sudden he missed the transition itself, if there even was one. Was anything he saw real, because this place certainly couldn't be. 

The ground was cold and blue, as were the walls and the ceiling. Sitting near a workbench were Nanimon and Nanomon, but the voice he had heard didn't belong to either of the two craftsmen. He was in their shop in the ENIAC, but that was impossible as he wasn't supposed to be in the ENIAC. A glance at the door, a rectangle of white light in the real shop, revealed he truly wasn't. What he saw was mist, swirling and trying to get inside, yet unable to do so. And it so desperately needed to do so.

"Nanimon, Nanomon," Ryo asked, knowing before asking the question that the answer was moot. "What are you doing here?"

"Customer, what can we do for you today," Nanomon spoke, in a voice that was not his own, but the voice that had called him out a moment ago.

"What?"

"Perhaps a set of modify cards? Or a brand new D-Arc might tickle your fancy?" Nanimon went on when his companion remained silent. But no matter which of the two spoke there seemed to be no difference. No accent, the voice the same as the one speaking through Nanomon, mocking him with knowledge denied. The voice knew him, whereas he did not. "Such a shame, another customer took the cards and the D-Arc, but he carelessly lost them."

"I didn't just lose them," Ryo called back.

Both of them smiled wickedly, and spoke in complete tandem. "No, you did far worse than that. You lost yourself."

"No, I-"

"Who are you? What is that you want? What is it that you need?" they questioned, the one voice behind them growing more powerful and demanding with each question. "Do you know?"

"I, I am Akiyama Ryo," Ryo answered.

"No," the voice told him, "you are hiding."

Ryo bolted, running through the opening and back into the mist to get away from the two digimon craftsmen. Passing through the opening he ran straight into another chamber. Compared to everything else he had encountered the room was unremarkable, it could've been any youth's bedroom. But it wasn't anyone's, it was his.

* * *

_Instinct denies rationality. _

* * *

It was dark in his room, the only light coming from the laptop on his desk and the moon through his window. Everything was just as he had left it, except that the power seemed to be off in the whole house. He wondered if that was because of his entry into the Digital World. In the gloom he couldn't see the titles of the books in his bookcases as he went over to his desk, and the one source of light. His chair, always so comfortable, stood slightly off and to the side, as if someone had leapt up in surprise and had pushed it away. Curious, that someone was him. More curious still, his reference to his past self in the third person, as if the person he was now was not the same boy who had gone through that screen. In a sense this wasn't far from the truth. 

His hand went to the small lamp on the desk, but after pressing the switch several times he gave up on getting it lit. On the screen he saw a forum, and a half-written message about digimon, made in ignorance so long ago. That brightly lit rectangle was the only thing that spoke of power.

"This has to be a dream," Ryo said, shaking his head slowly in confusion.

"And what makes you think that, Akiyama Ryo?" the arrogant voice said. Coming from the doorway through which he had entered; a portal not into a familial hallway, but a curtain of mist. A fog that now greeted him from the window as well. Had the moon's light just been a figment of his imagination? Not so strange, was this a dream.

"Nothing makes sense," Ryo said, turning around to face him, them, or whatever guise the voice now assumed. But though the voice was male what he saw wasn't Nanomon, or Nanimon, or any digimon, but a woman holding a burning candle. "Mom?"

"This is where he vanished, disappeared from the face of the world."

"What? I didn't disappear," Ryo protested, but then he realized that he did. He went to the Digital World and had not returned.

"And for what?"

"I had to save it," Ryo said, trying to justify to her why he had gone. Though he knew it wasn't his real mother, not with someone else's voice coming out of her mouth – some other entity that used her body as a medium to converse with him – he felt it important that he tried. He had to make her understand.

"You think therefore you are. But if there's no one around to verify your existence did you ever really exist? There is no Akiyama Ryo in this world."

"That's impossible," Ryo said, but again he knew it to be true. He had left his very world behind, not only by going to another plane of existence, the digital one, but by going to the past, to the origin of everything. The world he knew didn't exist yet, so did he, himself, ever really exist?

"I will come back," Ryo said emphatically, "I had to go and stop a monster. When he's gone, I'll be back."

"What constitutes a monster? What were you trying to stop? What exactly is Millenniumon?"

* * *

_Denial clouds judgement_

* * *

A small old man, smaller than Ryo, slowly walked up to the boy and his companion as they were sitting on the porch of his house, breathing in the atmosphere of their surroundings. While Ryo knew he was coming he pointedly kept looking at the garden and its splendours. There was a pond, and ornate bridges crossing it. Water splat, sometimes for no reason, as if fishes swam there. The water was clear, but it appeared murky from the reflection of the sky, if you could speak of a sky that hung, like a ceiling, only meters over their heads and showed nothing but fog and darkness. Even so, the garden was beautiful and tranquil. But for Ryo there was no refuge there. 

"Millenniumon," the old man said, and this time Ryo was glad to hear a voice that fit with the persona he was seeing. It came back to him, the name of the kind old man, who often referred to himself as Super Old Guy, who served as his mentor on several occasions, Gennai. "Is a powerful destructive force."

"That would be you," V-mon, his partner and friend, said in a strong and assured voice. It was that voice again, the one that kept following him from place to place. He pushed it away.

* * *

_Power invariable leads to destruction_

* * *

"His mere presence brings disaster," Chuchidarumon, resembling a giant snowman only made from mud, spoke, standing amidst the burning rubble of a village. A large hill stood in the background, an untouched green to offset the reds and yellows that continued to ravage the houses. There was no one else around, but if there had been surely there would be screaming. And lots of it, in pain, in fear, or in revelling at the destruction and violence that had taken the peace from these homes. For a second, almost, Ryo could see young digimon fleeing out of a space between buildings, fearful of what was behind them. A cat, made of fire, sprang between them. But of course, there was no one there except for him, the old man, and his partner. 

"That would be you," V-mon stated.

* * *

"His will is the providence of all," Devitamamon said, standing in the hallway leading up to his most prized possessions. Ryo didn't know how the entrepreneur and owner of the vault, set deep inside a luxurious and well-secured manor, had acquired these items. Legally bought, or stolen or otherwise swindled. What he did know was that that person was a rotten egg, quite literally. He had made a deal and he had broken it, and not for the first time. 

Demi Devimon strode inside the vault, to a display of several items. One of them was made of gold and hinted at a purity that was supposed to be free and not kept in the darkness. The others told a different story, practically dripping with evil. Dark Gears, Dark Cables, instruments to bend a digimon to wickedness. Ignoring the righteous call of the golden artefact the blue devil took one of the gears off the table. From that act a monster was going to be born, had been born in fact.

"That would be you," he said.

* * *

"He kills without mercy," Nanomon said, an angry visage plastered on his mechanical face. A series of small explosions rocked Ryo in his seat, but the large machine held out. An indicator in front of him told him the device was charged, all he had to do was pull the trigger. Without hesitation he fired the huge rifle, but it stayed silent while Nanomon threw another load of smiling bombs at him. Another blast would destroy the weapon, and there was no way he could leave it in time. But then the gun discharged, its systems operating under a slight delay. The beam cut through the bombs like they weren't there, hitting the mad machine digimon dead on. Nanomon never stood a chance as he, and a considerable portion of his lab, was vaporized instantly. 

"That would be you," V-mon said, still engaging the horrific spider machine Nanomon had created.

* * *

"He sacrifices others to achieve his goals," Lady Devimon said, hovering in the space locked away by black walls. A pocket dimension under her control, only by her leave would they live. 

One of his friends, a sorcerer he had met some time ago in a corrupted city, stepped forward until he was right in front of the demonic woman. Her fangs gleamed, when she parted her lips slightly, even though there was no visible source of light.

Ryo wanted to look away, but couldn't. The woman's arm changed into a spike, a wicked instrument she didn't hesitate to plunge into the magician's stomach.

Sorcerymon turned his head until his eyes were locked with Ryo's. "That would be you."

* * *

"He is of no place, but still he changes the course of destiny wherever he goes," Piccolomon said, the pink puffball flew ahead into a corridor laced with doors. Every one of them led to a different place, but none of those were for Ryo to call home. No matter where he went they would never be where he belonged. He was a wanderer, there to do a task and leave. 

A door opened, revealing a city made of toys inhabited by toys. A door slid shut, showing a train riding through a desert in the instant before it did. Another door was left ajar, showing a volcano with ice inside its crater. All of those places had been touched by him, influenced, to exist according to what he deemed was right. Was that so wrong?

"That would be you," V-mon said.

* * *

"No!" Ryo shouted, breaking way from the visions, memories. Away from that voice and what it was telling him. He ran though a door of darkness and mist. He began to understand that the mist held horrors that best remain covered. 

"This is a nightmare."

* * *

_When the Dream borders on Reality, which one is Real?_

* * *

"What makes you so certain of that, Akiyama Ryo?" the kind boy asked, gesturing for Ryo to sit on one of the dice close to him. Again he stood in the small pasture of tranquillity amidst the endless swirling mass of fog. With some relief he noted the boy's voice was not out of place. 

"I think I've lost my way," Ryo said, suspecting that the arrival of the one who kept hounding him was not far off. Part of him wanted to keep running, take his chances in the fog, but when the boy spoke his words almost felt like a protective charm.

When he sat down in front of the boy, whose name he aught to know, the boy spoke again. "Have you thought about the symbolism of the fog and the darkness? Fog, as you see here around you, is basically a cloud. All clouds are the condensation of water droplets, which break light when it passes through them. It's quite remarkable how well clouds can scatter light. When you're inside it the light is scattered so much you can hardly see. The more light there is, the more it scatters, making it hard to see by. You with me so far?"

"I'm with you," Ryo said.

"Now, consider the darkness, the absence of light. You can compensate for this by creating more light to fill the space so you can see. But that's not the case here. The more light you use to drive away the darkness, all the more it will scatter in the fog. If you compensate for this, by taking away light so it doesn't refract so much, you only feed the darkness.

To see you need light, but light won't help you here. Do you know why this is so interesting Ryo?"

"Anything can be out there," Ryo said, just letting his thoughts come out naturally.

"Yes."

"But there could also be nothing out there."

"Yes. This is because fog and darkness make the perfect hiding place. Only the one who put both there in the first place would know what it truly hides."

"And who is that?" Ryo asked, though he already knew the answer.

"That would be you," another said from behind him.

* * *

_What happened, what caused it? The heaviest burden is not realizing one's own failing. _

* * *

"Who is Akiyama Ryo, how did he come to be here?" the glowing ball of light spoke, his voice changing halfway from what Ryo remembered to be ENIAC's voice to that of the other. Everything shifted so suddenly, almost without rhyme or reason, but there were a few consistencies throughout it all. One was himself, one was the other boy and there was the demanding voice. 

"I got lost in the fog," Ryo said, his voice raises slightly. He kept telling these people, whoever they were or pretending to be, that he was simply lost, but they didn't accept that explanation. He got lost, lost his stuff, his friend, the way back, everything.

"And, how did you get there?" ENIAC asked.

"I was going through ENIAC's portals, to help them out."

"And, how did you get there?"

"I was in the ENIAC, talking with Monodramon about the other places we had seen."

"And, how did you get there?"

"I woke up in the ENIAC," Ryo said, the last vivid memory he had. What came before was no longer completely obscured from him, but he still did not recall more than some isolated incidents. Incidents that beget fear.

"And before that, how did you get there?" ENIAC pressed on, getting to the heart of the matter. Ryo did not reply at once, there was no clear answer for him to give.

"I was in the Digital World." He knew that at least, even if his actions there remained a mystery.

"What were you doing there?" ENIAC asked.

"I was fighting Millenniumon."

"Why were you fighting him?"

"Because it had to be done."

"No, why were _you_ fighting him."

"I don't remember that yet, I'm still trying to figure everything out," Ryo said.

"Remember. What happened to you there?"

"I don't know, I'm telling you I don't know!"

"That's because you don't want to remember," ENIAC surmised.

"That's not true!" Ryo shouted.

"You want answers," ENIAC said.

"Yes," Ryo said, with as much conviction as he could muster. Even now a part of him wanted to get away from the ball of light. He was doing fine, he didn't need to remember. The battles, the killing, he knew of those now, if only barely, but it changed nothing. Remembering changed nothing. "No. I don't know."

"Even if I gave you the answers you seek, you wouldn't be able to understand them. After all, we've mentioned Millenniumon a few times already and it triggered no response, did it?"

"Haven't we been through this already?" Ryo now asked.

"If you want answers, then answer these questions," ENIAC said.

* * *

_Accept failure, nothing can be changed. Nothing should change._

* * *

"Who is Akiyama Ryo?" 

The sky was turbulent, a swirling mass of grey clouds and darkness. Not just the sky, but everything outside of a devastated stone circle. Ryo looked for the source of the voice, but it was nowhere to be seen. He could see far and wide, standing on the large pile of rocks. Slowly he went to the side and looked over. Two cold blue eyes looked back at him from a broken body down the slope. The white-haired boy, in his messed up attire, some kind of white and black uniform, must have fallen there and broken several bones. Still, he was able, and quite easily by the look of it, to raise his head and look him in the eye. He was the one who had spoken, or at least the one the voice had chosen for his body.

Ryo didn't answer, it was a rhetorical question. He was Akiyama Ryo, but had to admit to himself that his self-image was distorted enough that he didn't know what that meant anymore. He was Akiyama Ryo, but at the same time he was not. Akiyama Ryo went to the Digital World where he fought to save it, making friends and foes along the way. But he no longer recalled any of it. Who was Akiyama Ryo? He did not know anymore.

Seemingly satisfied with Ryo's introspective the other spoke again, this time from somewhere else. There was a large column, fallen and broken, that now resembled a ramp leading up to a floating crystal. Something was inside of it, a dark shape exhuming malevolence. Or would have, within the fog covered world such emanations were dulled.

"What is he so afraid of?"

For a moment the scene seemed to flash in front of Ryo's eyes to a different place, a room. It went too quickly for him to see everything, but what drew his eyes were a bed and a green worm digimon holding a silent vigil. There was someone in the bed, but he couldn't make out who it was before the view of the ruined coliseum stabilized itself.

"I'm not afraid, not more than anyone else," Ryo said to the crystal, "I don't want to die, but I won't let the thought of dying stop me. I don't want to get hurt, but I won't let the thought of injury stop me either from what I believe is right."

"What is he so afraid of?"

"I told you, I'm not afraid." But he sounded unsettled, despite claims of the contrary. There was something about that last image. That bed, there was a boy in it. He knew that boy. But, did he also know what got him in that bed?

Again, briefly, he was in another place. The sky was still overcast, and the horizon blocked away by the omnipresent fog. A cloud of dark particles, fragments of what had to have been a huge digimon. They weren't dispersing as they should've, but were instead coming together. As worrisome as that was Ryo had no eye for it. Instead he looked down, there was a body there. Taking brief notice that he was not alone with the prone form, one he couldn't make out. Or was it that he didn't allow himself to make it out? He recognized the two digimon with him, V-mon and Wormmon, the same he had just seen sitting at a bed a moment ago.

Ryo didn't want to see it, and again he was left on the pile of debris. Someone else had different ideas of where he should be and again he was looking down at the body of a young boy. A body pressed against his back and a pair of arms wrapped themselves around him soon after, forcing Ryo to keep looking down.

"What did he forcefully purge from his memories, in this place, and why?" the white-haired boy whispered in his ear, but the low volume did not deter from the power of his message. Inconsistency, the white-haired boy wasn't supposed to be there in the desert. It was funny, Ryo thought, how he knew that for fact but he still couldn't identify the body lying at his feet.

He wanted to look away, but his head was held in place. Something slid past his eye, a droplet of water. He was sweating, his heart rate was increasing and so was his breathing. Contrary to what he thought first the body wasn't calm, it was convulsing as if in great pain. It made him feel sick while looking at it, but there was no escape. The other wouldn't let him.

* * *

_Don't see, don't hear, deny the burden of acknowledgement_

* * *

"Please stop this," the kind boy said. They were back in the playful pasture, but the colours seemed less vibrant somehow. No longer seated on one of the blocks he walked over until he stood between Ryo and the other. "If you continue to push him like this he won't survive." 

"Don't interfere, brat," the white-haired youth said, giving the boy a disdainful look. To Ryo's relief he was no longer holding him in an immobilizing hug, but the reprieve was only momentary. Something seemed to click. The appearance, the voice, now that he had been seeing both together Ryo realized that they fit. He also knew his name, Neo, a friend he had made. And someone whom he had killed, or hurt badly after Neo had proven to be a traitor, he wasn't sure which.

"Is that any way to address me?" the younger boy said in rebuke, "It is you who is overstepping his boundaries, messing with the true self like this."

"I do what is necessary," Neo countered, "What you are doing, keeping his memories locked away, is what is making him weak, vulnerable. It brought him in this position in the first place. Survival demands that this is rectified."

"He's the one who chose this," the boy said, "I, we, have to uphold that decision."

"But, he no longer feels that way. Do you, Ryo?" Neo asked.

"I-," Ryo started to say, but he felt tongue-tied. What did he really want? He recalled what ENIAC had said about how the strain of all the fights, of which he had now only witnessed brief flashes, had been too much for him to handle. He had chosen to forget, to free himself of that burden. Was it the right decision to go against that now? The Ryo of the past must have had good reasons to do what he did, but the present him was aware of none of these reasons.

"Why are you here? Why did you go to any of those other dimensions?" Neo prodded.

Part of it, Ryo knew, was to help the ENIAC in his efforts to keep the course of history intact, or at least as close to what it was supposed to be as possible. Deviations from what had happened, or what was supposed to happen, could have disastrous consequences. People that were supposed to live could die, or perhaps they weren't even going to be born. But for him, and for everyone else, those trips weren't going to matter much as long as Millenniumon was around. The real reason he had to go was to immerse himself in experiences in order to regain his own. To arrive at the end victoriously, he needed to know.

"Remember," Neo urged, grabbing hold of Ryo's shoulders. Immediately Ryo felt the pressure burn him. Had he thought about it, Ryo would've realized Neo was leading him to a predetermined state of mind. One he had now achieved.

"Stop it!" the other boy shouted, but it was already too late. Both Ryo and Neo were gone. He shook his head, smiling a tad wistfully. "Force is not always the way. This has already been said by someone else, best to heed it in this instance. But you won't, will you? Because you know nothing of subtlety."

* * *

_Freedom is in not knowing. Relinquish the pain of memories._

* * *

"The world trembled when the sky darkened and a curtain was drawn in front of the sun. The land turned bleak and barren and everyone alive trembled at the revival of the dark god," Neo said, gesturing to the stage around them. It was as he described, the place was fit for despair, empty except for a number of key players. 

"Why are we here?" Ryo asked, looking over the other's shoulder at the cloud of data particles hanging above the sand. He was feeling hot, but though they were in the desert it wasn't because of that. In fact the outside temperature had been consistent throughout, neither too hot or to cold. He was burning up from the inside.

"To discern the truth," Neo answered.

"Of what?"

"Look," he whispered in Ryo's ear and now they were looking at what was going to happen as if from a distance. Ryo saw the dark cloud coalescing, and he realized what that meant. Neither V-mon nor Wormmon had anything left to give; they couldn't fight against that dread lord again if he were given a chance to reform.

* * *

_Freedom is in not feeling. Relinquish the pain of emotions_

* * *

With a brisk pace Ryo walked through a dark hallway, finally alone for a change. He didn't much care for where he was, just so long as he was left alone. There was neither a beginning nor an end to the corridor, at both ends there was just a blanket of mist and it continued to stay at the same distance no matter how many steps he took. Ryo knew that, if he felt like it, he could just keep on walking forever. With no one to bother him and no one to rely on him he could be free there. Free, under the stone. 

His feet tapped rhythmically on the grey slabs, one set of footsteps and one set for the echo. But part of him knew there was no such thing as eternity, the monotony of the corridor could not continue and neither did he truly want it too. True, there was no burden, but it was also dreadfully boring. A second pair of feet fell in line with him.

"Trying to be alone?" Hikari asked gently. He recognized her, the same girl he had saved from Deathmon together with Monodramon. Ryo wondered where that dragon had gone off to anyway.

Here though she looked slightly older, but also more familiar that way, another ghost of his past.

"Yeah," he said simply.

She nodded, "This is a good place for it. You sure this is what you want?"

"Not really, but I seem to have lost my way," Ryo said.

"It is said that, when you are lost, the best thing is to stay where you are until you are found," she said, "Unless, you are also running away from something?"

"I'm not, I'm just lost," Ryo said.

"You can't just keep everything bottled inside of you," Hikari said, skipping slightly ahead of him before turning back. Walking backwards her large innocent eyes were fixed onto his.

"Why not," Ryo said briskly, unsure where his words were coming from, some deep well inside that, once acknowledged could not be closed up again. "That way no one can betray you."

"Is that why you've forgotten, because of all the lies? In the end, can you not forgive?"

"I can forgive, but that doesn't change what happened. Yes, that is why I forgot," Ryo stated, but he felt no relief at the admission.

Hikari's expression changed, as if she knew something he didn't, as if she knew he was lying, both to her and to himself. "But isn't that just the darkness?"

* * *

_Be free of duty, the chains that bind forever. _

* * *

The particles were coming closer together now, there was almost no time left. Ryo watched himself as he was kneeling at the young body convulsing before him, holding him close, his features filled with worry. 

"This can't be happening, we've won didn't we?" V-mon exclaimed, alternating from looking at their enemy and his partner. As Ryo watched he still couldn't make out the boy and the more he looked the more his head seemed to hurt. It started as a tiny speck of throbbing behind his eyes, but it didn't stop there as throbbing turned to a spreading pain.

Ryo watched as he gently laid the boy down before tearing away from him. He had his duty; he had to leave him alone, if only for a moment, even though the kid was clearly in pain.

"I will not let you revive yourself demon, you shall not escape me!" Ryo shouted obstinately, holding out the crystal in front of him. It was odd, seeing it from both perspectives. He saw it as if through his own eyes, glaring at the cloud of particles, but also from a distance, as if he was looking at someone else. Someone he used to be. Someone who would not think about avoiding any kind of horrible truths, even if he didn't necessarily have to face it; what his friends saw, he saw.

* * *

_No memories, no emotions, no duties._

* * *

Another dark hole, above ground this time around. No cave system beneath a city, no passages inside a volcano or a fortress beneath a desolate graveyard. Anachronism, walking through the metallic corridor he wasn't supposed to be aware yet of an event that hadn't taken place. The thought didn't bother Ryo for long; he just went along with the flow. 

While on the run two of his companions had stumbled across something. The site he had just left was horrific enough, but this was a working storage of experimental material. He knew the kind of experiments that were being pursued there, which is why they were going to completely level the facility before they left. Before that though, he had to see what they had found. He felt he owed it to the victims.

Corpses, mutilated with a plethora of metal and devices, littered the corridor all the way up to the room. He didn't want to look, yet he couldn't help but glance at them, repeatedly. Corpses of digimon, but unlike their pure counterparts they did not dissolve into fragments, waiting to be reformatted. Glassy, unseeing eyes, stared back at Ryo. At least, the ones who still had eyes did. Multi-legged devices were among the corpses, the result of recycling a digimon's code into something completely subservient and mass producible. Every one of those was made of a part of a digimon. An adult could be used to make several. For all of them, chances of being reborn were practically zero.

The door to the room he needed to see was pried open, from the looks of it from the outside. The number of bodies here was largest, where his two friends had held their last stand. Fortunately, for them, they had prevailed. This, he thought, was truly no way to die.

Inside the room was as gloomy as the rest of the facility, somehow during the conflict they had managed to completely fry the main power. Turuiemon was waiting for him, showing the work they had done on the interior. Vats upon vats had been broken, by his friends, leaving the occupants strewn about, disconnected from the machinery. He could tell why they had done it; with an army outside they couldn't afford to leave possible reinforcements alive in the room. Alive being a relative term in this instance.

It was only a room of relatively small size for a few seconds, but the more Ryo looked the more tubes and vats there seemed to be. The walls seemed to expand when he wasn't looking, but he was the only one who seemed to notice. There were bodies there, many bodies. The first he noticed was a Kuwagamon with a blast hole in his body, as if he had been struck by one of V-dramon's energy blasts. Next, a Lynxmon who seemed to have died from suffocation and a Pteramon whose wings had been blown clear off.

"Something hit his missiles," Turuiemon observed, nodding as if he was appreciating the many ways these digimon had died. There were so many, like a large group of goblin digimon who had been crushed by boulders. This was a junkyard of dead digimon, his dead digimon. Ryo had encountered every one of them, and now they were all dead, if not by his hand than by the one he was backing from the rear. A pile of ashes drew him like a magnet, that one had been vaporized by a laser gun. No doubt that one was completely his. He didn't mourn its passing.

"There are so many," Ryo said.

"You did the job you were meant to do," Turuiemon said.

"Some of them did not deserve this."

"Is that why you've forgotten?" Turuiemon asked, the pitch of his voice changing to match that of Neo.

"It was my duty to uphold the order," Ryo said, "Those that threatened that order had to be dealt with so that others could live in peace. But that doesn't change the fact that I am a killer, just like those I had to stop."

Turuiemon looked doubtful. There was merit and the boy's reasoning, and it was a contributing factor to what had happened, but it wasn't the whole of the truth. "But isn't that just the fog?"

* * *

_Freedom is in not embracing anything_

* * *

"Have you thought about the symbolism of the fog and the darkness?" the boy said, looking over at Ryo with his head resting on his hand. Sitting cross-legged on the numbered cube the boy seemed perfectly at ease, even though there was nothing around the small area but a swirling mass of white fog and black murk. "Fog, as you see here around you, is basically a cloud. All clouds are the condensation of water droplets, which break light when it passes through them. It's quite remarkable how well clouds can scatter light. When you're inside it the light is scattered so much you can hardly see. The more light there is, the more it scatters, making it ever so hard to see by. You with me so far?" 

"I'm with you," Ryo said.

"You think you are, but you're not," the boy said with a shake of his head. Patiently though, he continued to explain his point.

"Now, consider the darkness, the absence of light. You can compensate for this by creating more light to fill the space so you can see. But that's not the case here. The more light you use to drive away the darkness, all the more it will scatter in the fog. If you compensate for this, by taking away light so it doesn't refract so much, you only feed the darkness.

To see you need light, but light won't help you here. Do you know why this is so interesting Ryo?"

Ryo opened his mouth to say something, but it would have been the same thing he had said earlier. That was not what the other boy was angling for, and he knew he didn't have much time to get Ryo to understand.

"Look around you, what do you see?"

"Fog, and darkness," Ryo said.

"Exactly. But what does this mean?"

"Something is hidden here, using both fog and darkness," Ryo said, but he still didn't understand fast enough. Time was not unlimited.

"And where is here?" the boy asked.

Ryo had considered that question a lot in the time he had been here, going through all those different places without any sort of order. He had thought about what all the things he had seen had in common and had come to one conclusion, him. That's what held everything together, every thing, every place, was something he had visited. He remembered them, but only slightly, just like a picture book only told fragments of a whole story.

"My mind," he answered, and by the smile that slowly formed on the boy's face he knew he was right.

* * *

_Let it all go_

* * *

"What did he erase, in this place?" Neo asked him, watching him with more interest than the mass of particles that was drawn within the crystal. Ryo too, was no longer looking at the crystal in his outstretched hand. It was, after all, only a memory. 

And that was the rub of it, memories. Slowly he had been reconstructing his past from the scraps he managed to pick up now and again, and through that he had come to two reasons why he'd better not remember. One was that he had been betrayed, by people whom he considered friends. Something at the end of the tournament he had been in. He knew Neo had betrayed him, and he knew he had pushed him off a pile of debris because of it. Why? That was still vague. There was more betrayal, but again, it was vague. That was a reason to forget, but, he now slowly had come to realize, that was only a cover for a deeper reason. Darkness.

Then, he started to remember defeating digimon, many digimon. And he thought, that's a reason right there. He never wanted to kill, but he had to do it regardless. Technically it was V-mon, or others of his friends, who did the actual act, but the result was the same. Exceptionally, he had also taken an enemy life himself. That was a reason, but that too had been an excuse. Fog.

Looking down at the body lying at his feet he slowly started to make out more features. It was the boy who lectured him about his memory loss, the boy he was travelling with, the boy he had set his mind on to protect, no matter what. Of course it was infeasible, but he had managed for weeks with no problem. Their enemy was beat, it wasn't supposed to happen, but he had been careless. But he wasn't the one who had to pay the price of victory. It should've been him, but no, it was Ken who suffered.

"Dammit," Ryo said.

* * *

_Let it all – **Don't**_

* * *

Ryo was practically alone, sitting on a small stool next to a bed. He was thankful it wasn't a hospital bed, those seemed so uncomfortable, at least to him. Not that that mattered much, he scoffed, he had never been in the position of having to be in one for any period of time. Still, it was what he believed, and in this place it was all that mattered. This bed, which could have just come out of a boy's bedroom, helped with the fragile illusion that its occupant was simply sleeping. No sleep held this boy to his bed, but a coma. At least he wasn't in pain anymore, for which Ryo was grateful. 

"That's where it started," Ryo said, talking as much to himself as to the boy in the bed, "Before it was just a big adventure. Dangerous, sure it was dangerous, but an adventure nonetheless. I should've kept you out of it, but I didn't, and look at you now."

"Do you really believe Ken would have let you keep him away? Remember what happened in the machine city?" the Ken in the bed laughed, "Of course you don't remember, but that's okay, I'll fill you in. You told him to stay back when you and V-mon were going off to fight Mugen Dramon, but he didn't listen, and followed you in regardless. You two would've lost if he hadn't."

"That's true, but I still should've been more attentive."

"Wouldn't have changed a thing," Ken said, "but you were saying that was the start."

"After that everything went wrong," Ryo said, "I was being used as a hitman for hire, and I wasn't even aware of it. Or perhaps I was, but chose to ignore it. My friends, who came to help me do what was right, died in a situation they shouldn't have even been in, also because of betrayal. Killing and betrayal."

"But there was more." Ken supplied.  
"I couldn't be there for my friends when they needed me. Not for Ken, not for Sorcerymon, not for Meramon. Now, I'm not even there anymore and I have no idea what's going on in their lives, or if they even have lives to live for that matter."

* * *

_Let it – **Don't make **_

* * *

"And so?" Neo asked, sitting with Ryo on the bleachers of the coliseum, when it had still been in one piece. A peaceful moment before the storm struck. Again the sky was going to blacken and the wind would only bring a chill from beyond the grave. Light would vanish and despair would reign. And he, or so he had been told, was the only one who could stop that. They had given him help; in order to reach his goal, help that was, in a sense, expendable. Neo had told him that before, hadn't he? Back then he really hadn't wanted to believe it. 

"And so?"

"And so," Ryo said, "I became a contracted killer, who wasn't owed any loyalties, and who wasn't allowed to have any friends. I couldn't keep my friends. And I wanted to forget."

"That's right," Neo said, "And in the process you made your mind weaker by fracturing it. But, realizing this, doesn't mean you can now take it easy. The way to the truth is still long and you're only at the very beginning. You've accepted, logically, the reasons for why you did what you did. But, you've only scratched the surface of those memories. What remains to be seen is whether you can stand to remember them in full. Every piece, every emotion and all the pain they brought you."

Neo smirked, but to Ryo he now just seemed like a shadowy silhouette. If this was indeed happening inside his head, the traitorous boy wasn't really there. He was only an aspect of his mind, something base, something primal, something whose survival instinct he had impeded on. From the fringes onward to the centre the coliseum became enveloped in fog and darkness, leaving Ryo to walk in nothingness again. Alone, with only a few words to set him on his way. "I'm looking forward to seeing how you fare."

* * *

_Let it – **Don't make me**_

* * *

"Hi." 

As sudden as it appeared Ryo stopped dead in his tracks. He could've sworn that, a moment ago, all that was in front of him was fog, with its detestable visibility or rather lack thereof. But now he stood on grass and what looked like a gilded children's blanket. Startled he quickly whipped his head back. Behind him, at least a few meters away, was a wall of fog. It surrounded, or more like enveloped, the pasture completely. He was struck by a strong sense of deja-vu.

"Hi," Ryo said, tentatively walking to the source of the cheerful call, a boy a few years younger than he was. His voice, and his appearance, was familiar to him but he couldn't place him for sure. "I seem to have lost my way."

"It's hard to see in darkness, when you don't know where you are going or where you have been," the boy answered. He sat on a cube, one of several lying about. On closer inspection Ryo saw it was actually an oversized dice.

"Yeah, the fog was really thick," Ryo said, taking a few more steps forward to the younger boy, at least by a few years. His bluish hair and wide curious eyes, eyes that seemed to know a lot more about what was going on, struck a familiar chord with him. And, strangely, it gave him a secure feeling.

"What is similar about fog and darkness is that you can't see in either of them. If you can't see, how can you be sure there's anything there at all?" the boy replied.

"I can't," Ryo answered, seating himself on a nearby block, "I'm looking for a way out, but I might have missed it. I haven't seen a thing since I entered this place."

"I hear that a lot," the boy said. There was a faint smile on his face when he said that, but Ryo disregarded it. In a place like this it wasn't all that surprising to see people lose their way after all, the kid must have seen a lot of people.

"Maybe you've seen a friend of mine; he's not that tall, purple, scales. You'd know it when you saw him."

"You have a lot of questions on your mind."

"Maybe you've seen my D-Arc, or my cards somewhere?" Ryo asked. Another thing he had lost. When he got back to the ENIAC he'd ask if the god in the machine could, for the next time, drop them in a more easily navigated place.

"Many questions, which I can't answer all at once."

"Have you seen Monodramon, my friend, somewhere," Ryo asked, after some deliberation. He wanted to get out of there, but not without his friend. He didn't want to go forward by stepping on other people.

"I'm sorry, but I haven't," the boy said, "But it's good that you made up your mind just now. Accepting that you can't do everything, and, in extension, to accept yourself with such a failing is very important. If you didn't you'd easily get lost in the darkness and the fog."

"I've realized that a while ago," Ryo answered. What a strange thing to say, stranger still that he knew it as truth.

"Good," the boy said, "in that case I can show you the way to go. Legendary Tamer, Akiyama Ryo."

The boy tossed something to him, and he almost didn't catch it. When he looked closer he saw it was his pack of cards and the D-Arc. One card stood out to him, as if the boy wanted him to use it. Perhaps he did, perhaps that was the way out. Ryo looked up from what he almost dropped, but there was no one else in the clearing but him.

"Don't lose sight of what's important," the boy's voice lingered.

"I won't, Ken," Ryo said, moving both arms quickly, "Card Slash!"

* * *

_**Don't make me laugh!**_

* * *

The ray, a twisted looking spiral, sent up a small cloud of dust when it struck the gravel. Just a moment earlier Monodramon had stood in that very spot. The dragon hit the ground; going into a roll immediately as his trail was followed and marked by rays from the small gun his assailant carried. 

"Why don't you stand still, it'll be over soon anyway," Vadermon said. "Make it easy on yourself. Bah, make it easy on me and stop wasting both our time."

Monodramon didn't reply, but jumped behind a rock large enough to shield his body for at least a few seconds. To get to him now Vadermon would have to approach and when he did he'd have a chance to counter attack. Monodramon only hoped he could, successfully, launch an attack the alien digimon's way that actually stuck. Though his body looked very frail, a huge brain suspended by a bunch of tentacles, Vadermon was of Perfection level and that body deformed so easily under his punches he wasn't doing any damage to speak of. Monodramon needed help, he needed Ryo.

Vadermon sighed, slithering closer on his tentacles. "Why make it so difficult on yourself? Your partner at least had the grace to fall with the first shot, though, truly, he must have had a weak mind to fall so easily."

"Weak mind," Monodramon muttered, peering past the rock to see where the other was going. Of course, Ryo still suffered from memory loss, it made sense that his mind was more vulnerable now than it should be.

He immediately had to duck back when another ray flew past his head. Thankfully the ground was too rocky and uneven so he could hide, otherwise he wouldn't even have been able to get this far. The only warning they got were the fallen bodies of four of the Chosen upon their arrival, but that wasn't good enough. Ryo had crouched to examine the bodies closer; he never had a chance to get out of the way. That was minutes ago, and only by running was he spared the same fate. He needed to save Ryo, and the only way to do that was to find a way to beat Vadermon. But to beat Vadermon he needed Ryo's cards.

"Peek-a-boo," Vadermon taunted, from above him.

"Beat Knuckle," Monodramon called out, punching the invader of minds in his central stalk, the bridge between his oversized, and distinctively ugly, head and his lower tentacles. It bent, but didn't break; dissipating the energy he had put in.

Vadermon almost seemed to fall forward, off the rock and onto Monodramon, holding the dragon down with his full body weight. His telltale laser gun was pressed right in the dragon's face, at point-blank range there was no way he could avoid being hit.

"Game over, little one," Vadermon chirped, looking extremely pleased with himself.

Ryo, Monodramon thought as he closed his eyes, I need you. He didn't need to see what was going to happen next, though he wished fervently that he didn't have to feel it either.

"Alien R-" Vadermon started to say, squeezing the trigger with his slippery tentacle. He stalled though when, unexpectedly, Monodramon started to glow with a pink light. The dragon's eyes shot open at the influx of power, and he didn't hesitate to punch the gun out of his face. It flew away, landing against a pile of rocks a distance off.

Vadermon looked down, an expression of utter disbelief on his face. Lying still on the ground Monodramon couldn't help but grin wickedly, both at the thought of what this newfound power meant as well as the dumb expression on the alien's face.

"Now it's game over," Monodramon said, grabbing two of the tentacles holding him down. He pulled and twisted, ignoring the slick feel as his increased power allowed him to hold his grip. Vadermon screamed when two of his appendages were ripped off.

"W-what is this," he screeched, stumbling away, slowly at first. But when Monodramon flipped back on his feet, still grinning wickedly, Vadermon scrambled, almost tripping over loose rocks, to reach his fallen gun.

"Card Slash, High Speed Plug-In B," Ryo said, calmly walking over to the two combatants. For someone struck by the alien's debilitating ray gun he seemed almost chipper.

In the blink of an eye Monodramon sprung from his position, crossing the distance between him and the gun, before Vadermon was even halfway. He planted his foot on top of it, waiting a brief moment to let the sight sink in, before crushing it with the added power flowing through him.

"U-un-unidentified Flying Kiss," Vadermon stammered, holding up his arms. A small black field, filled with stars, comets and planets appeared above him. Shaking in their orbits it didn't take them long to fly out of the field at breakneck speeds.

"Card Slash, Aegis," Ryo countered, already expecting Vadermon to make a last ditch effort. The enemy was powerful, so the best option would be to throw in a powerful defence. A round shield, courtesy of the Royal Knight Dukemon, larger than Monodramon was tall, appeared before the dragon. Bracing himself against it, using it more like a shelter than a shield, he waited for the projectiles to hit his barrier. The wait lasted for barely a second, and the impact was enormous, but expelling the last emanations of his pink aura he weathered it out. His increased strength was now gone though, much to Monodramon's dismay. Ryo couldn't just slash the same card again twice in such a short time, and he knew his partner only had one of those.

Vadermon, not waiting to see if his foreign bodies were having any effect, had also sprung forward to finish his attack with a good, hard peck of his two lips. His hands grabbed the shield, and threw it to the side, lips already closing in on the digimon that had been behind it. But the first stage of his attack had been stopped and Monodramon wasn't dazed by any of it.

"Beat Knuckle," he shouted, punching the alien right on his lips, stopping him cold. But all Vadermon needed was to touch him, anywhere was fine really, even fingers. A chill ran through Monodramon's body and he felt like he was about to be paralyzed. That would be bad, because he really needed to move in order to throw up. Dying from his own vomit – unable to be expulsed – was a far too ignominious death.

"Is that the best you can do?" Vadermon said, though his words were hard to understand as he was slobbering them around Monodramon's balled fist. The alien felt better now that the tides were turned again, and he took the time to glance over at the kid who had made such a rude interruption to his little party. If he had been thinking about it he would've felt worried when Ryo didn't appear in the least bit concerned.

"Card Slash, I can't lose like this!" Ryo called out, not the most encouraging thing to say, given the situation, but the card spoke for itself. For this it was important that the previous power up, the Queen's Device, had worn off. Now the difference in power between Monodramon and his foe was large again, just what this card needed to reveal its effect. Again Monodramon felt an influx of power, less though than before and also limited to only one shot. He had to make this one count.

"Crack Bite," he said, temporarily setting aside his disgust. His teeth gleamed as he set them into Vadermon's stalk-like body, his jaw snapping shut. It was the most horrifyingly disgusting thing he ever had to do, but regardless he hung on until the alien, his body severed, deleted.

"Ugh," Monodramon exclaimed, falling head first on the ground. His body felt weak now that the card had worn off and the invader's kiss took full effect. Liquid was dribbling from his hand.

"You look terrible," Ryo said.

"Ugh."

"Want me to help you out?"

"Uuuugh," Monodramon groaned.

"I'll take that as a yes. Card Slash, Recovery Medicine."

"Why do you look so damn chipper," Monodramon said when he could finally move again, shaking his hand to get rid of the drool.

Ryo shrugged. "I just had the strangest dream, that's all."

* * *

"Ryo, how is that you can still fight?" Millenniumon asked himself, his dual voices sounding as one in his empty throne room. Time after time he kept probing the networks, but the resistance remained whenever he dug in too deeply. Observing the streams from a distance revealed much, though not as much as he would've liked. He knew that his programs were being blocked, and that it could only be Ryo who was doing it. But the details were kept from him; there was no way of going in deeper to see for himself without getting shocked. 

A powerful knock, three of them, sounded from the door and his blue head's eyes narrowed. He wasn't expecting anyone; everyone had their assignments and weren't supposed to give any progress reports until later. Much later preferably, mundane matters held no interest to him. Still, they kept coming, like Skull Satamon some time before. When was it exactly? Didn't matter, they were of little consequence and recalling their comings and goings was beneath him.

"Come in," he said, though he wasn't particularly annoyed by the unscheduled visitors his voice sounded threatening regardless. Many a messenger had been vaporized for coming to him, but the two who entered his abode weren't simple messengers.

"My lord Millenniumon," Zanbamon said, sinking in a bow halfway down the red velvet carpet. For him it was an awkward pose, his equine body wasn't made for such a subjugated stance. Lampmon, his fellow general, had it much easier, but then he didn't have a lower body. Neither would appreciate being called subjugated, neither of then were in a position to object.

"Zanbamon, Lampmon, what is you want?" Millenniumon asked, the intrigue at this breach of conduct slowly fading. None of his underlings could keep his attention for long.

"My lord, about the subjugation of Ryo, we request the honour of that duty," Zanbamon said.

"Oh," Millenniumon chuckled, "And you think you are worthy of this? Tell me, my generals, wasn't the subjugation of the resistance your appointed task?"

"You are merely playing with him, my lord," Lampmon said, "Why don't you simply finish this, why give him the opportunity to destroy everything we've worked for, letting him kill off all of our companions?"

"Lampmon," Zanbamon hissed, surprised at the disrespect the genie was showing. Already their lord seemed to be through with them, going any further and he would surely respond less than favourably. He had done worse for less.

"My Lord, we believe in you completely, with all of our souls. But we worry my lord that the connection between you and that boy has already run too deep. Please believe enough in us in return, allow us to sever the link between you permanently. The past will be conquered, this we vow."

Before either could say anything more that would doom them, Zanbamon spoke up, "Lampmon, you forget your place. However crude he was about it, he has a point. Please allow us the honour of enacting your will. The defeat of Ryo is assured. We shall not fail you."

For a few desperate moments the two generals feared they had pushed their master too far. Two cold smiles formed on the dragon's heads, but these did not reassure them in the slightest.

"With such passionate declarations," Millenniumon said, "how can I not acquiesce? Go then, to the ENIAC, and take care of everything for me. Deal with the matter as you see fit, Lampmon, Zanbamon."

"Yes, my Lord!" The two chorused, bowing deeply once more before leaving.

Millenniumon started to chuckle before breaking down into a bout of malicious laughter. "Fools, as if mere programs could ever hope to defeat him. Show us then, once more, the level of your skill Ryo."


	30. The Devil's Tower

* * *

**Chapter 29**

"_**The Devil's Tower"**_

* * *

There was no thunder, no darkened sky or the cries of fowl beasts. Nothing so ominous it could make your heart sink and plunge you deep into despair. On a plain of grass, stretching off to the east, south and west, as far as the eye could see, it stood near the boundary of the great northern canyons. A watchtower of white stone, reaching up high into the air, a marker for travellers of the plain or the canyon looking for a sign of civilisation. Neither the plains nor the rocky wasteland could be fully observed even from the tower's apex, yet it made any attempt at approaching unseen impossible from whoever claimed the structure as his. 

For years it had been abandoned and nearly forgotten. Travellers were few and the herds of digimon roaming the plains had no interest in the structure whatsoever. Nor did it warrant any attention from the cave dwellers of the canyons. The solitary spire was once the advance guard for a nation of digimon, but that nation had fallen so deep now that only a few aged ones still knew its name. Some spoke of a great war that had ended the nation, yet no one could tell whom it was they were fighting. Rivalling species all blamed the other until it was even decided that speaking of foregone matters brought about bad luck, bad luck that slowly brought the watchtower to decay.

Until one day, he arrived, drawing to him all the evil elements from hiding. Terror had returned and without the unity of a nation it remained unopposed. Digimon prayed even for legends as the Royal Knights to intervene on their behalf. Prayers remained unanswered.

The sky was blue and sparsely filled with clouds, the grass was short but green and a slow breeze brought a bit of relief on a hot day. Stories always told of darkness, rot and decay, for the homes of evil. Obviously the stories were wrong. Not even the two hulking guards at the tower's base appeared all that evil. They were sufficient though to stop anyone foolish enough to draw close.

Like a tree the tower had its roots in the ground, a cellar or dungeon that remained unused, unlighted and unkempt. Large stone slabs formed the ground. Around one such tile the seams turned bright red before sizzling to almost freezing. Hot and cold took turns, leaving small wisps of vapour and a puddle of water behind. Slowly the seams became more brittle and started to crack, no longer able to carry the slab's heavy weight the stone tile started to sink into a tunnel that shouldn't have been there. Now loose two pair of strong arms pushed the slab up and away, leaving a square hole behind.

A small blue penguin hopped out, looking around anxiously for any sign of discovery. Everything indicated that the lower level hadn't been entered by anyone in a long time. For Penmon that was only a small comfort. "I don't like this, why did I have to come?"

"The way I recall it, you didn't want to be left behind," Meramon said. Second to rise out of the hole his body illuminated the cellar. Was it his imagination or were some of the walls throbbing, as if veins were running through them? Perhaps Penmon had the right idea in voicing his worries; the severity of what they were about to do was making him see things. More light-hearted he continued. "Always complaining, this is what you do you little sneak. Who better to get in here than you?"

"Who better? Oh, I don't know, perhaps all of the Plainsmen and Spelunkers combined instead of the three of us? This is lunacy." Penmon scoffed.

"If you truly felt that way you could've stayed behind." The final member of their small band came up last and wasted no time in taking a few steps to the cellar's exit. One stairwell was what separated them from the host that now occupied the tower. He wasn't worried about facing them; it was the demon who commanded them that was going to be a problem. Leomon looked back to his two companions. "You are needed and you answered the call. If we don't do anything our people will buckle under tyranny. Not since the days of old have we been ruled by anyone and by our blood and valour those days won't be returning either."

"Inspirational, Leader," Penmon said, offering a mock salute.

"Let us go, when this day is over our people will be free," Leomon said.

Penmon sighed. "More like we'll all be dead." Nobody heard him.

* * *

Leaning against the wall of the open-ended staircase Leomon had a clear view of the tower's main entrance, but nothing of the other side of the antechamber. The chamber mirrored the tower's round form, the service entrance to the cellar in a niche of the wall halfway between the gate and the stairs up on the opposite side. That flight of steps would circle halfway around the perimeter, ending one floor up above the gate. And from there another stairwell on the opposite side would do the same. 

A few steps down the way to the cellar and with his back against the opposite wall Meramon had only a slightly clearer view of the parts that were obstructed for Leomon. The passage down was too narrow for the both of them to stand side by side. Entry to the cellar was not meant for larger digimon. What that told of the tower's creators Leomon was in no mind to consider.

The giant of fire shook his head – his field of view just wasn't enough to give an all clear – then gestured for Penmon to move. Up the stairs, crossing between large legs, Penmon stuck his head out of the stair's alcove. Luck was with them that day, the chamber was clear.

But for how long remained to be seen, and seen by Penmon if he had any say in it. At once the penguin left the alcove proper and ran, though you couldn't tell from his soft footfalls, to the exit. Soon he was perched down at the first step, listening for everything he was worth. Unlike the other one this way up was large, each step a bit taller than Penmon and twice as deep.

Leomon followed, glancing around. Seeing the inside of the ivory spire for the first time hardly left him impressed, the walls were dull grey, the stone floor dirty and tread-on. It was bleak and built solely for its purpose, nothing more. When a wall almost seemed to pulse he wrote it off as nerves, as the other two had done. Softly he spoke, the price of carelessness was too high to afford and in a place of that size even a whisper might carry far. "Meramon, you know what to do."

The giant of fire was already moving, taking in the large gate and imagining the two posted on the outside. Facing them would negate their secretive and unwanted entry, but they couldn't be left to come in and catch them at unawares. Several large pin-barrel hinges secured the double doors to the stone framing. Starting with the lowest Meramon carefully heated the metal, fusing it in place. Care was required to keep it from turning red-hot on the outside – warning the sentries. Here too their luck held. More than just brute force was needed to get through that gate, and given time the sentries probably would. But by then they were hopefully done and gone.

* * *

Luck was fickle thing, and ceased holding on the landing of the fourth floor. Cackling voices drifted to the two warriors hiding around the bend of the twisting steps. Some of the devils were reputedly insane, but Leomon wasn't betting on that being the case here, no matter how the voices sounded alike. He had never been able to distinguish between them and he recognized it as a failing. The nuances inherent in these devils' speech patterns remained alien even after the months of continued harassments on the plains. Demons and devils, if things went according to plan he wouldn't have need of knowledge concerning their wretched kind. Now though his gut told him there were only two. Pray there were only two. 

Leomon signed, not daring to speak with their enemies so close. _Two enemies, quick takedown_. Meramon nodded his consent. Somewhere out of sight, watching the same enemies they were hearing, was Penmon. A habitual complainer, the penguin had streaks of valour that belied his sneaky occupation. That he had joined them told Leomon he was taking this serious. Any devil in their path was a danger of being detected, Penmon wouldn't allow that. He would act soon, and if they weren't there when he did things could get messy.

Leomon leapt around the corner first, a heavy fist raised before him. Power formed around it, unleashed into a roaring lion's head. A second behind him Meramon also flew out of hiding, tossing balls of fire.

This level kept mostly to the same configuration as the ones below, a vast open space, perfect for meeting invaders. Only exception was a smaller stairwell, for the tower's servants, at one side, that had first appeared one floor down. Penmon had gone up there.

With only the stairs as a way in, a good defence was easily mustered. So far, no effort had been made to do so. Large contraptions, of stone and wood, lay scattered about. Barricades of old none had seen service in a long time and the current occupants hadn't been inclined to change this. Leomon was glad for the complacency; the three of them had no way of successfully mounting a siege. All of this rested on stealth and speed.

The two red devils were caught by surprise, though one more than the other. Standing slightly behind the first Boogeymon the second instinctively, traitorously, pulled the other in front of him, jumping back himself. Caught off balance the fireballs and Fist of the Beast King crashed into the Boogeymon.

The traitorous Boogeymon turned to flee, leaving his companion behind. Barely a step away a blue blur slid across the floor, knocking his legs underneath him. Boogeymon fell atop Penmon in a brutish tangle, dropping his pitchfork.

Even without his weapon the devil was a vicious creature, wasting no time in throttling the offensive penguin. He had to get away from there, but the penguin wasn't letting go. Penmon struggled against the adult, but the devil was outmatching him. Penmon squeaked, "Help."

"Let go and die, die and let go," Boogeymon hissed, almost as panicky as Penmon though for different reasons.

Leomon charged past the groaning devil on the ground, charred by their attacks he posed no immediate threat. Drawing his sword he grabbed the second Boogeymon by the scruff of his neck, heaving him off Penmon. Boogeymon wrestled in the grip, clawing viciously around him. Each swipe started to come closer to the lion warrior's skin, but a plunge of his sword through the devil's neck stopped the struggles. A last wheezing breath before his body fell apart.

"Crimson Flame," Meramon stated, fuelling his fist with more of perpetual flames. Realizing what was about to happen, the Boogeymon groaned, trying to get away. Fire erupted from Meramon's fist, encompassing the devil's body until nothing remained but dust.

"Tell me again," Penmon said shakily as he was helped back up on his feet by Leomon, "why for the Knights' sake I agreed to this foolhardy business?"

"What did you find in the passage?" Leomon asked instead of answering. Penmon's remark was rhetoric in nature anyway.

Penmon shook his head, "That's a no-go, Leader. Part of it was already collapsed; it was pure luck I managed to squeeze my way through. If the others are like this, we'll be forced to use the main ways."

"In that case, let us go, the longer we wait the more likely we are discovered," Meramon said. His tone told clearly he was disappointed by the news. The servant's passages were narrow, and for his frame hard to traverse, but they offered the best way of remaining undetected. Alas they hadn't survived the test of time.

* * *

As the tower reached ever higher its layout started to change and none too subtly. The vast open chambers turned to rooms and halls. Wide for the inhabitants of old and smaller ones for the servants of old, coated in a layer of dust. The devils used only the wider passages, deeming themselves to fine for the narrows despite all evidence of the contrary. 

The fifth floor showed storerooms, now empty, impeding the progress of the three interlopers. Each door, hiding an empty room, could easily have hidden a devil. The sixth floor held sleeping quarters, as desolate as the storages below. Bedding for soldiers of low rank and servants, they left little for the imagination. Here they had to hide for a pair of dark scaled dragons of equally demonic origin as the Boogeymon.

Behind a door left slightly ajar Leomon waited for them to finally pass before bursting out, impaling one of them before they realized it. Meramon and Penmon had no trouble tackling the second, yet it managed a roar before Meramon backhanded him into silence.

Leomon sighed, these were the confrontations he had wanted to avoid, but the Devidramon mustn't be allowed to go down. If anyone turned up missing, or if the molten and bolted front gate was seen, the game was up.

All things considered, Leomon thought, it could've gone worse. He soon regretted that thought when, on the eighth floor, a door to a small room opened unexpectedly, admitting an odd pair. Neither demon nor plainsmen or cavern-dweller, they seemed just as surprised to find someone. At the same time another Devidramon lumbered down the stairs on the opposite side. Everyone froze.

* * *

The portal winked out as both his feet touched ground. A solid tap both times, indicating stone. Ryo wanted to look around, but all his eyes met, was darkness. Blinking didn't help any. From the light of the portal into the darkness of wherever he was now, his eyes needed time to adjust. 

"Monodramon," Ryo said, leaving his voice a whisper. The dragon had gone through first and should've stood right next to him. Monodramon's eyes were more keen than his as well. "What can you see?"

The answer also came in a whisper, and from the place Ryo had guessed. "We're in a room of some kind, there's nothing here but rotting wood. Wait, I see a narrow strip of light at a wall, it's a door."

Ryo looked around, dark blurs becoming a bit more distinct, until he finally saw the light. Just looking into it undid all efforts to see in the dark. What had become shapes dissolved back into the surrounding black. He had a goal now and went for it, no use waiting around. Rotting wood, the place could very well be abandoned.

"Wait, there's no telling who could be out there," Monodramon warned.

Ignoring it, as he did most warnings, Ryo brazenly opened the door. Once he had learned to be careful, when he had almost faced death against the first hostile digimon he had faced, and after, when he had worked hard to protect a friend. The lessons of the past were now, for the most part, forgotten. He was only aware of this on a subconscious level, the level his memories inhabit. From there, if he had been aware, he could only sigh in futility. All he knew was that he had been paralyzed by fear for too long now, much to his chagrin. It was time to show Monodramon that he wasn't like that anymore.

Barely out of the door, Ryo halted; his momentary thoughts about this being abandoned place abruptly shattered. Monodramon appeared at his side, opening his mouth to speak yet shutting it when he saw what Ryo did.

They had chanced upon three weary beings, if their reaction was any indication. Monodramon was about to make a greeting, when down from a stairwell on the other side another arrived on the scene. This Devidramon gave them one look before bellowing. "Intruders." The dragon looked ready to pounce, but turned instead to flee back up the stairs it came from.

* * *

No, it's too soon, Leomon silently cursed. This could be their undoing, with still too many floors between them and the top. Leomon jumped forward, taking long strides to the other end of the hall. He spared the strangers but a single glance in passing. Had they been devil or demon in origin he would've cut them down in his pursuit of Devidramon. Now he couldn't be certain where they stood and though it was safest to kill them quickly – who else but allies of their enemies would walk the tower so carelessly – his heart refused to let him. He couldn't be sure who they were. Killing indiscriminately was the enemy's way, not his. 

"Never mine," he grunted. Somewhere ahead of him on the long winding steps he heard the dark dragon's flight. Devidramon was going to reach the next floor ahead of him; though Leomon was gaining ground it wasn't nearly fast enough.

Up ahead a dark tail rounded a corner. Leomon pressed on, he'd stop Devidramon before the next stairwell. Then he rounded the last sharp corner himself, and four crimson rays sped for his chest. Throwing himself back and sideways against the wall he narrowly avoided them.

"So, not so cowardly after all," Leomon said. Drawing his sword he approached resolutely, but with caution. "I'll remember that."

A twig snapped under his paw, and straw rustled. Another change in coming up, doors had been lifted from their holds, and broken on the ground. Dirt, leafs, and other things littered the ground and the empty rooms. A warren for the degenerate, as he expected he'd be finding all the way to the top. Had the rulers of old imagined such a failing? The stench was unbelievable, making Leomon's eyes water. An ill condition, for facing combat. Devidramon howled, and was answered from the dark chambers.

"Leader," Penmon called out, breathing slightly heavier after his own climb up. Those steps weren't made for a small digimon like him. With a hand flipper against the wall he regretted not staying with Meramon as two more demons came out into the light. "Why didn't I stay below? That little dragon seemed more my size."

* * *

Meramon moved in front of the boy and dragon, whichever way they decided to go he could intercept all equally. They had to know this, yet made no move against him. Perhaps they did not belong with the devils. Perhaps they had no concern of being cornered. He did not know of any digimon like the humanoid and that put him at a distinct disadvantage. Some Ultimates looked puny in stature, yet wielded the power of giants. And he had a dragon with him. Of old the dragon kind was always trouble. 

"I say this now, and hearken well; if you do not answer truthfully I will be forced to kill you. On which side do you stand?"

Sharing a questioning look of silent deliberation the dragon took the lead. "We aren't on anybody's side."

The flames of Meramon's body flared and the dragon took a step back. That was a reaction Meramon expected. Some things could be concluded from size, if a digimon's species was known. Dragons became larger at higher levels, and he now knew the dragon wasn't a threat to him.

But the boy, he didn't even flinch. Meramon regarded him with caution, either he was bluffing or he was a lot more than he seemed. Being backed into a corner had no visible effect. Damn their luck in being forced to split up, everything was liable to fall apart now.

The dragon gulped. "Look, we are not here for any trouble with you. We've come from far away; we have no idea of anything going on around here."

"Then what are you doing here? This tower is a den of evil, infested with monsters. They've been terrorizing the lands."

"You are here to stop them," the dragon surmised.

Meramon's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"A stranger came," the boy suddenly said. "And after that things started to change, perhaps drawing in the demons? Am I right?"

"Yes."

"We can help each other," the dragon said. "The one we are looking for might be the one you are trying to stop."

"You don't have to believe us, but if you try to kill us to keep your mission a secret we'll fight back. And that's something neither of us wants."

The boy's stance seemed ready. The giant of fire was loathe to let such an obvious threat, veiled as a warning, slide. But he stayed his hand. If it was a bluff, it was among the best Meramon had ever seen. No, those eyes didn't appear to lie. Meramon was inclined to believe them. The stranger didn't desire conflict with them, but he would if forced to it.

"Follow me, we need to go higher," Meramon ordered.

* * *

The demonic beast growled low, saliva dripping out between yellow fangs on the already defiled stones. His red fur was almost black with filth; his black leather bindings of his four legs were brown with dirt. Fangmon sprang into the air, bounding off a wall. With the extra momentum the wolf bound past Leomon, who was grappling with Devidramon. 

Penmon scampered back, putting up his fiercest face. In the wolf's oncoming rush it was all he could do to keep it there. This wasn't his thing, but what could he do? His foot slipped on something, a puddle of something vile, when the wolf came bearing down at him.

"Penmon!" Leomon called out, his voice constricted by worry and the strain of close combat. His sword arm was held by Devidramon, the dragon doing all he could to keep it from nearing any more to his neck. Their other hands were tightly entwined, no quarter there. Leomon growled, forced to lean back to keep his own neck from Devidramon's snapping jaws. He would have already freed himself if not for this uncomfortable position. Red energy started to form from the dragon's four eyes, no longer just contend with sinking his teeth in Leomon's furred neck.

A third demon, a brown hulking ogre armed with a club and wearing a loincloth of tiger skin, was encircling from the other side. Struggling against Devidramon the ogre would have no trouble attacking Leomon in the back, if Devidramon didn't shoot him first.

Penmon lay on his back, a flipper against Fangmon's upper jaw and the other on his lower. Spittle leaked down, trailing off the penguin's blue feathers. Had his attention not been caught by the maw hovering over him he would've felt disgusted. "A little help please."

"Hold on," Leomon growled. Devidramon's gaze locked on to his face, and four crimson beams shot out. Leomon stopped pushing and pulled, using Devidramon's own strength against him. The two fell, with the lion dropping hard on his back. The four beams went through empty air. Planting his feet against Devidramon's stomach Leomon propelled the dragon up and over him, causing the beast to land with a resounding thud against the wall the energy attacks had scorched. Dazed, he did not get up right away.

Fuugamon's heavy club came down, nicking Leomon's free arm. The lion warrior rolled over, trying as best he could to ignore the pain of it. In the heat of battle it was almost easily managed, yet he knew that later it would not be so.

Fuugamon swung again, faster than should be possible. The power over wind was speeding his strikes, but the experience of years brought the iron sword in the club's tracks every time. The ogre started to look worried.

When the club swung at Leomon again he altered its path with his sword. The new path came precariously close to his face, and that alone kept the ogre long enough from reining his weapon in. Too late he realized his folly when Leomon held the tip of it in his large fist, pulling the ogre off balance. The sword found its home in the base of his skull, an instant kill.

Leomon had no eye for the body dropping slowly from his blade, or the fact that it was already halfway gone before it struck the ground. How many other demonic kin had fallen to his blade in the recent passing of time? Where before he had fought only out of honour he now killed pragmatically, sadly he no longer cared.

Now his friend was his greatest concern. As he watched the penguin's fins slipped and the wolf's maw descended the last part, closing in on the hapless Child. Sharp fangs would rip Penmon asunder, but instead of trying – futilely perhaps – to escape Penmon reached further down Fangmon's throat. A gurgle escaped as something blue, and infinitely cold, shone in the darkness of his gullet. Fangmon exploded into fragments, leaving a prism of ice behind that, without support, fell to the ground to shatter.

Penmon rose and dusted himself off, his face contorted as he wiped away the saliva. "Stupid beasts, they are always so quick to underestimate you when you're smaller than they are." He commented.

* * *

A howl of fear drew their eyes to Devidramon, but the demon was past caring. They called him and his brethren – was that the word to choose? There was little love lost between the tower's dwellers aside from a common purpose –, demons and devils. Fangmon and Fuugamon, lowly beasts he cared little about, were dead and he was hard-pressed to name one of them, with the sole exception of their lord, who could've done it like the Plain-dwellers had just done. 

Without a look back Devidramon fled down the stairs he had ascended only moments earlier. To his mind it seemed more like hours, days even. In his fright he had forgotten there were others still down there. When a light cast by flames appeared he ran right into the glow and knew no more.

* * *

Ryo's eyes took in all around him with disdain. Most digimon were animalistic in form, yet few lived like beasts, beings devoid of complex thoughts. What had made its home here was little more than a wild animal. Who else, aside from the complete destitute, could be able to stomach it? Ryo pitied them, their failings and their living conditions. 

"I believe they are sincere Leader," Meramon said. He and his friends stood some distance away, discussing their fate.

Perhaps he should've cared more to persuade the decision in their favour. Ryo mentally shrugged, come what may they'd deal with it. This wasn't the first world they were visiting, and scenes of the locals judging their worth had become common. Too common, he suddenly thought. Recalling their meeting he realized he was becoming complacent.

"So they just happened to be here when we made our move and just happen to want to help us?" Penmon was sceptic, in the current situation probably the wisest course to take.

"As hard as it might be to believe," Monodramon said, "that is exactly what happened. Look, you have your thing to do here and we've got ours, it just so happens they are the same. And I don't believe this is coincidence, our meeting was destiny, not chance."

Ryo suppressed a grin. Destiny was one way to call it; intervention by the ENIAC was far more accurate. The supercomputer had a knack of sending them to critical moments in the alternate reality's time stream, to a time and place that was most beneficial in setting things right. Though at times the ENIAC was slightly off in its calculations, Ryo suspected. Monodramon didn't want to hear it, for what it could mean. Here, they should've arrived months sooner, when the entity first arrived. But, as lateness went, this was a pretty ideal time as well.

* * *

"Destiny was once a pillar stone in our beliefs," Leomon said. "The coming of the evil ones was proclaimed destiny out of fear. Destiny is inevitability, an excuse not to act and it has brought this land nothing but continued sorrow. Blame not destiny they say, but I say do not rely on it either." 

"And that is why the three of you are here; no one else was willing to stand up for themselves. We are willing to help you," Monodramon said.

"I don't know you, but I trust in Meramon's judgement. Regardless, we can't stay around here arguing about it." The last part was meant for Penmon, who had opened his beak for another protest.

"You won't regret this," Monodramon said.

"I hope so. But before we go on, who are you?"

"I'm Monodramon, and this is Ryo."

Leomon frowned, looking at the boy who, so far, hadn't said a word. To all appearances the dragon was the one in charge, but his instincts told him the reverse was true. "Ryo, odd name for a digimon."

"Ryo's not a digimon," Monodramon answered.

Penmon laughed. "Then what are you supposed to be?"

"He's human," Monodramon answered. "But if you haven't heard of humans it would take too long to explain."

"Indeed, but this is a tale you will relate to us," Leomon said.

"If we live through this," Penmon muttered.

* * *

Leomon's heavy fists pounded the heavy doors. When his weren't upon it Meramon's were. Fire danced along the hinges, melting ice before it was reformed by Penmon. The metal groaned as if alive. Only a small antechamber before the doors greeted them on this floor, the final floor. Metal started to buckle under the duress and would soon fall. 

The last floors had offered only scarce resistance, as they had planned the majority of the demons and devils were out pillaging. Against the three of them the stragglers stood no chance. Leomon looked over his shoulder as his fists continued to pound rhythmically. The two strangers stood behind them. Despite reassurances they wouldn't regret having them tag along the two of them hadn't been any help in going up. It seemed the boy was holding the dragon back, giving credence to his suspicions about who was in charge and, ultimately, the one he needed to watch most.

"This is it," Meramon shouted, and the doors collapsed inward to a large chamber. A wind blew through the circular room from large portals. At one time glass had lined those portals, now nothing held out the outside. It was a welcome change from the dankness. Pillars lined the way to a dais, some broken, on which a large demon sat, surrounded by a pack of wolves and dragons. And he was expecting them, outside the sky was filled with flying shapes.

"Greetings," the lord said, his face hidden behind a horned golden mask allowing only his red hair free. The devil rose to his full, muscular length. Arms as long as his entire body, his skin had an artificial hue where it was bared above his waist. Tight leather pants and spiked boots clothed him. Ryo frowned at this thing. With every digimon so far his mind had instinctively identified it, a feat completely ignoring his memory loss. Not this time, telling him all he needed to know about his origins. So his target was truly the same as their new companions after all. "I'm sure you haven't found your ascent too difficult, or too tedious. The honour of undoing you should be mine after all."

"We shall be your undoing beast," Leomon promised. At his side Penmon was trying to draw his attention, advising caution now that the trap was revealed.

Neo Devimon looked at the lion, as if seeing him for the first time. "And you are what exactly?"

Now it was Leomon's time to be surprised. "You torment my people and dare ask who we are? Don't play coy; you knew we were coming that's why you set this trap."

"Don't flatter yourself, the trap wasn't meant for you but for the one opposing my master."

"What?" Penmon exclaimed.

"My faithful servants." Had the lord any inclination for emotion his words would have dripped with sarcasm. "See the last opposition before you. After this the lands will truly be yours. Do what you will with all but the boy and the dragon whelp. They are mine."

Almost as one the crowd surged as if it was a singular being, their excitement barely contained. Their plans crushed Leomon and Meramon nevertheless leaped to meet the charge. Wolves the colour of blood and black dragons fell right atop them. It was hopeless, yet they continued. If one could reach Neo Devimon, if one could kill him, the monsters would lose their cohesion and their land had a chance. Penmon saw a Devidramon plunge right at him and he jumped to slide away on his belly. Claws and teeth found nothing, but like a whip the dragon's tail knocked Penmon over.

* * *

The three companions were being overwhelmed. Leomon struggled to hold on to his sword with a host of the beasts pressing him to the ground. His young friend Penmon did his best to stay out of the Devidramon's jaws. The only one who managed to hold his ground, albeit narrowly, was Meramon; the flames of his body were proving to be a deterrent against being gang pressed like Leomon. And wading through them all, virtually untouched, Neo Devimon came for Ryo and Monodramon. The other beasts headed their lord's words, leaving them alone. 

Ryo grimaced visibly, prompting an increase in the demon lord's pace. If he had to guess the thoughts of his companions it would be disappointment. Had they not promised that their joining would not be regretted? So far they had been no help; so far it had been better to save their strength. The time for that was past.

"Time to do our thing, Monodramon," Ryo said, a card already in his hands. "Card Slash, Galgomon."

As Monodramon raised his hands they glowed, turning into gun barrels. Aiming high the rain of bullets left Neo Devimon alone – this power would be wasted on him – while waving into the dragons and wolves assailing their new companions. Some died instantly when the projectiles entered soft spots on their bodies, others were merely injured. The assault lasted only moments, but it was enough for the plainsmen to free themselves. In their eyes, as well as the wounded, Ryo saw the unspoken question: who are you?

It didn't last long, the calm. The lion swung his sword with a roar, and Meramon never stopped planting his fists. Odd streams of fire flowed from the giant's body, the only sign of his injuries. He could not be overwhelmed, not with his heat, so claws, fangs and other attacks took the place of subduing him. The beasts had plenty of others to play around with, they didn't need him. Wisely, Penmon slid away on his stomach back to them. Even with Neo Devimon stalking closer he figured he was safer behind Ryo and Monodramon, in this situation he was clearly outmatched and more of a liability than as asset. For a moment it seemed Leomon and Meramon were going to press on, but common sense won from their desperate need; even if they continued they couldn't defeat all of the demons. Even now all that attacked them were the beasts already inside the chamber, while outside more still flew.

Fist and sword cut a swath between the two fighters and the beasts, allowing them to edge back to the entrance. Around Ryo and Monodramon they might stand a chance to reverse what was on a fast track to disaster. More careful now the beasts were slow to pursuit, allowing the two fighters to form a protective half-circle around Ryo on either side of Monodramon.

Ryo drew another card, one he greatly disliked but kept around for the power. Beggars can't be choosers and they couldn't refuse any aid. "Card Slash, Chimeramon."

Neo Devimon dodged to the side, the first time in the encounter that he showed haste. Unlike the bullets this was something that could damage him. Green fire burned away the digimon formerly behind the demon. The lucky ones died at once, spared from an inextinguishable fire eating at their bodies. Accompanying the fire was a pressure wave, disorganizing another portion of the enemy force. Neo Devimon stumbled but didn't fall.

"Forget my earlier orders, destroy them all." Screeching in pain, picking themselves up from the floor or watching this happen was no great motivator. Neo Devimon growled, but the fear of him was outweighed by fear of what had just happened and what could easily happen to them next.

Then as fast as lightning the demon lord swung his arm around, and huge arcs of electricity shot outward. He cared not what he hit and several more of his own troops got charred. Leomon braced himself, but his sword attracted the current and he was flung away. Another arc did the same for Meramon.

Monodramon yelped when he was grabbed by the demon's hand and lifted to be shown to the cowering digimon. Neo Devimon glared down at Ryo, even through the featureless mask, or maybe because of it, the cold malevolence was unmistakable.

"This is the source of your fear? This whelp and the boy?" Slowly Monodramon was shown to the entire chamber. "Before I came you cowered in holes, a non-entity. When I speak, my master speaks. You are not worthy of being in his service."

The horde, Ryo saw, took offence but their fear of the demon had mounted again. If he said he was going to kill them all Ryo doubted they had the spirit to resist. Neo Devimon was right, they were a pitiful bunch.

Ryo's hand brushed against his cards, and in his mind he went through everyone his fingertips touched. Dismissing all he went for the last few he had, the Device cards. Then he frowned, one card didn't feel like it should. When he drew it, it was blue.

Leomon was right in not trusting in destiny as a crutch, but every now and then…"Card Slash, Blue Card!"

Monodramon screamed when his skin started to strip away, leaving only a wireframe behind. Fingers were pried open by the young dragon's growth and then fully when his form had stabilized. The new dragon warrior whirled around, planting a clawed fist in Neo Devimon's abdomen. Not even a hiss came in reaction.

So that's how evolution works, Ryo thought. A shame becoming Strike Dramon alone wasn't enough to defeat the demon. Ryo wasn't done yet, his fingers brushed through his deck of cards, drawing one for a weapon of great power. Earlier he had dismissed it, as his partner was unable to wield it. Most cards he had brought were fit for a digimon of Monodramon's physique, yet he also planned beyond that. At some point his partner had to evolve, he figured. That was, after all, what a Chosen traditionally did.

"Card Slash, Omega Blade."

Strike Dramon swung even before the white sword had fully formed, hilt in his claws the holy energy cut off Neo Devimon's right arm. Almost unfazed the demon retaliated with another bolt of electricity. Strike Dramon caught it with his blade, spun it quickly and planted the tip into the floor. Channelling the energy away, Strike Dramon let go of his weapon and glanced at Ryo.

Ryo drew another card, boosting the dragon warrior's speed. In a flash Strike Dramon was in front of Neo Devimon, landing two punches against his stomach. Springing up he kicked in the same place, ending it with a somersault. The current of power flying from Neo Devimon's fingers stopped.

Strike Dramon reached back for the weapon, pulling it easily from the stone. Coming in low he swung up, cutting deep into the demon's nigh impenetrable skin, cutting a diagonal wound from leg to shoulder and clipping away a part of the golden mask.

There was little time left, the dragon warrior could feel it. Whirling the blade in a great arc a shockwave of holy energy bound away, cutting away wolves and dragons. A small flash ended the existence of the blade, but the effect was lasting. With howls of fear the dragons scattered, and even the wolves followed them out through the wide portals. The fall was almost certain death, but rationality had left them. Within seconds only Neo Devimon remained of the enemy host, lying on his back with his life deserting him. Still the chanced companions took care around the demon; dying wasn't dead, and as long as he was the former he was still a danger.

Neo Devimon chuckled, and even that simple act left him momentarily gasping for breath. Though how he breathed through that mask none could tell. About to ask what he found so funny Leomon was halted when the tower rumbled. Small pieces of grit fell from the roof and Neo Devimon laughed again.

"What's happening?" Penmon asked.

"Look at the walls." Strike Dramon pointed at a throbbing blotch; vein-like shapes pressed outward from the stone.

"Your reputation preceded you," Neo Devimon wheezed. From the tear in his mask a sickly light – throbbing in the same rhythm as the veins – spread out, tearing up more of the golden covering. His power was escaping him as surely as his life. The tower's rumbling became constant, a drone that slowly increased in strength. "My Lord's will be done; this tower is linked to me now for on the off chance you succeeded you would still lose."

"How insightful," Ryo said.

"We have to get out of here!" Penmon said.

"It's no use, we can't fly and this tower will be destroyed before we reach the bottom. Our escape tunnel will collapse, if it hasn't already, and the exit's been sealed." Meramon stated.

Involuntarily Ryo touched his deck, true Strike Dramon couldn't fly, but he had the remedy for that. His partner was already looking at him expectantly, they would – had to in fact – survive even if Leomon, Meramon and Penmon wouldn't. They'd stay, dying in the collapse if Neo Devimon's death didn't do it before. He recognized instable energy when he saw it and this looked ready to blow. This world was only a mistake, and yet it felt wrong to desert them. Ryo didn't want to feel wrong anymore; from the things he was recalling he knew he already had plenty of regrets.

"There is a way." Ryo bolted for the stairs. Right decision or not he knew he had a lot of explaining to do when they got back to the ENIAC. "Follow me, trust me!"

After his dealing with their most hated enemy they didn't hesitate. Nothing stopped them from reaching the way down apart from the height between steps. For Penmon the way down couldn't be taken fast.

"I've got you," Leomon said, lifting Penmon just as Strike Dramon lifted Ryo.

Neo Devimon roared, expediting the collapse of his control. "You won't make it!" The mask shattered, releasing everything at once. In the explosion the last of his words were lost. The concussion forced them on their knees, almost making them fall down the stairs. Stone was propelled outward, leaving behind a skylight for the previous floor. Columns started to collapse, the tower started to teeter.

With three pair of the strongest legs they made great progress, but even so the ground floor was beyond their reach. "Where are we going?" Leomon demanded, having to shout over the collapsing stone. Right now it was doubtful if even getting halfway was possible. The explosion had not helped matters. What manner of creature would go so far to stop this boy, Leomon wondered. And how much power did he actually have?

"Remember where you found us?" Ryo replied. "Our way out is there, we just need to reach it."

"You run too much risk Ryo," Strike Dramon growled.

"I do only what I believe is right."

* * *

There once was an old adage, the best place to hide was in plain sight. It was rarely spoken anymore; much knowledge of the old world was gone. Destroyed, shattered or faded, just like its people. The ruins of the destroyed city were the last place anyone wanted to hide in. In danger all the time from buildings finally giving way and being found by enemy patrols. The pyramid of despair, in its golden wrappings, was visible from the few high structures still not collapsed. 

Within a low compound three youths shuffled under a withering gaze. Not a single one was able to look the woman in the eyes. She was the only survivor of older days – revered as immortal by her followers and as a damned spectre by those that did not – and had seen the rise of evil and the fall of two worlds. At her side, appearing to be uninterested in the disciplinary proceedings of their reckless young, Angewomon stood silently. She had already had her own word with the partners, though that had been less severe. For them it was expected to protect their human charges, even if that meant going with them on foolhardy outings. Yet they should've known better and stopped them from going in the first place.

"I expected this kind of rashness of you, Kazuya. You are brave almost to a fault," Hikari said. For a moment the blond boy looked up, until he understood she didn't mean it as a compliment. "Bravery has its place; its twin-side, recklessness, however, does not. With what we do we can't be overwhelmed by fear, but we mustn't shy away from it either. Fear makes us take a step back, evaluate what you are doing. Had you thought it over you would've known the only outcome was your deaths. Fortunately your absence was discovered in time for Angewomon to come and save you."

Kazuya looked like he wanted the ground to open up and swallow him. Hikari shifted her attention to the two girls with him. He was not the only one to blame for this fiasco. "From Kazuya I expect this sort of thing. Rieko, Naomi, what were the two of you thinking? Naomi, from you especially I expected better."

Neither girl looked like an answer was forthcoming; nothing they could say would make a difference, they had erred, and spectacularly so.

"I want you to think of what you have done. It wasn't just your lives or your partners' you put at risk, but Angewomon's when she came to rescue you and the entire resistance had you gotten killed. Life is precious in its own right, something this world has mostly forgotten, and I care for all of you deeply. We are family, but we are also all that's left of hope. How I would love to keep you from all danger, but I can't. I have come to accept this. What I haven't come to accept is for the three of you to strike out on your own. Once, such bravery was rewarded and even necessary to show us who we really are."

She held out an old pendant, the golden tag and crest of light. "You can't go off half-cocked and expect things to turn out all right. Good doesn't always triumph over evil, not in every battle. You need to think, and curb your impulses. The brave are always the first to die; you may think these words an old saying, but they are true. I have lived them, and learned from them. Learn this lesson from me now, and spare yourself the pain of learning it the hard way."

Hikari sighed, "You risked a lot more than you know. Now, you are dismissed."

* * *

Hikari rubbed her temples, eyes closed. "I have become complacent, dear friend. It's been so long since I was but a child that I've forgotten what it means to be one. I really should have known they were going to slip away; it's been some time since we last openly acted. How it must have grated on their young spirits." 

The angelic woman stepped away from the wall, a soft smile playing on her lips. "You aren't fooling me; our hiding is grating more on your spirit than it did theirs."

"But I know when to act and when not to act on my feelings. A surprise attack on the regiment stationed in the city." She shook her head wistfully. "It's a lesson of patience they have yet to learn, even the usually so rational Naomi. Still, I'm glad for their loyalty to each other."

"It makes us feel we are still making a difference, that good still has a place here, with these children."

"How lucky you came upon them when you did, or we would've found out they were missing when they were already dead." Hikari looked at the door where her three charges had gone. "But enough of that matter, it's done with. Tell me what you discovered."

Angewomon smiled in earnest. "Our suspicions are correct. Millenniumon's troops are grumbling everywhere. The high ranking commanders are being recalled, leaving only the troops behind. Something is happening in the pyramid and it's weakening them."

"The generals pose the biggest threat. With them out of the way the rest is surmountable. But this situation won't last."

"Millenniumon wouldn't weaken himself if there wasn't something greater to be won. He's up to something and that will, when it is done, destroy us."

"But before that we have an opening," Hikari said. "Gather the children; we are going to the final safe house. It's time to gather all of the resistance, and free our world."


	31. Dark Horizon

_It was the last thing he had ever thought he had to do. Or rather, he had never even considered this turn of events. To him it would have been more likely if he had been the one to turn evil, to betray his friends and the people who depended on him. _

_Breathing hard, which was difficult with all the sand whipping around him, Ken looked at the face of the boy who had betrayed them all. Their hero, their saviour, and his best friend. _

_Another gust sent a barrage of sand to hit him in the back, but he ignored the stinging sensation. Stingmon had just flown overhead, his two stingers out of their gauntlets. _

"_Spiking Finish," Stingmon exclaimed before sinking his spikes into the Devidramon's belly. The dark dragon roared in pain as he slowly began to delete from his mortal wound. The defeat of the traitor's only digimon did little to ease Ken's worries. This wasn't an ordinary villain they were up against. Not only was he a Chosen, but he was the one who made the impossible possible. _

"_Not so fast," Ryo said, aiming his blue digivice towards the dark dragon. A bright beam shot from the small egg-shaped device, streaking through the sand-filled air. It enveloped Devidramon, giving the dragon more power. This was Ryo's gift; he could partner with any digimon and lend them his strength. _

_The almost beaten enemy changed, and so did the tide of the battle. While the wasp started to create some distance between them, made all the harder since he had already used up all his momentum in the charge, the evolution process was nearing completion._

_Ken didn't know why this Devidramon had chosen to help Ryo, all he knew was that this dragon wasn't created from V-mon. Ryo's old temporary partner would've been revolted. Ken just wished the blue lizard could be with them now._

"_Devidramon, evolves to Mephismon," the taller Mephismon said, his voice a hiss out of the mouth of a demonic goat. The bi-pedal demon punched Stingmon out of the way with an oversized, and hairy, fist. The wasp felt all the air being forcefully expelled from his body, and he was flying again, but against his will and in the wrong direction. The transparent wings on his back fluttered most strongly, but he was unable to stabilize his descent before he crashed into the sand which exploded all around him. Mephismon, in terms of raw power, was nothing like his lower form of Devidramon. _

"_Why are you doing this?!" Ken shouted. It was hard to take his eyes off of where his partner had fallen, but he had to look away, their opponent was too dangerous to leave out of sight for even a few moments. Letting your guard down like Stingmon had done, for even just the briefest of seconds, was disastrous. People had underestimated him, his resolve and his strength, and they had all lost. _

_Ken needn't look further to see the cloud of sand dissipating to know that his partner had devolved. The boy breathed a bit heavier now, with his partner defeated the only way to avoid complete disaster lay on his shoulders. He had to convince Ryo to turn away from his path. He was the only Chosen_ _around; even if Gennai was able to call for the others they would not make it in time to lend a hand. When they came, it would be too late unless he stopped his friend now._

"_Because, Ken, I'm tired of being used," Ryo answered. "To them I'm nothing but an expendable pawn in their game."_

"_Them?" Ken asked. He hoped, for as long as he could keep Ryo talking, that there was a chance to change his mind. The fallen Chosen_ _standing before him was not the friend he remembered. But then, he had stopped, slowly, being that boy ever since he had gotten hurt that time in the desert. It still gave Ken nightmares thinking about it, that cloud of data, the belief that they had won, only to have Ryo suddenly cry out in pain. Ken blamed himself, if only he had been more watchful, more alert, it wouldn't have happened._

"_Them, Gennai, the Holy Beasts, the digimon, all of them, and this entire world, that's them. They use us until we die so that they won't have to. There's always another impressionable kid with delusions of heroism around. Well, no more! I won't play their game anymore; it's time to change the rules."_

"_So you're siding with him?" Ken wanted to know, he had to know._

"_No Ken, I'm done siding with others. I'm in control, he sides with me," Ryo said, thumping the crystal held against his chest with his digivice. The darkness inside it, a formless mass as of yet, responded slightly. "As you should do, the justice Millenniumon advocated is the only justice. His way, our way, is the only way. Otherwise we will be fighting for them for all of our lives. Is that what you want, to fight until the day you die? I've seen what the future holds for us and it will never stop unless we do something to stop it."_

"_We wouldn't need to be fighting now if it weren't for you," Ken implored._

_Ryo shook his head like a teacher who's amused at the antics of his young pupils. That light heartedness did not last, when Ryo looked up again his face was brimming with fury and an almost unnatural glow appeared in his blue eyes. _

_That look made Ken lose all hope of reaching through to his friend. When he looked in his eyes he detected no recognition and no mercy. The brunet made quick eye contact with his pseudo-partner, giving him a nudge to move._

_The towering goat-man landed behind Ken with a heavy and strong thud that not even the sand could dampen. Bending in the knees his body, his arms, cut off every way for the boy to escape except straight forward. Forward, where Ryo was even now approaching._

"_Ryo," Ken started to say, but under his glowering gaze he could not find the words. There was no way to run, but now he wished he had tried anyway. Ryo stood in front of him now, looking down at him with contempt._

"_You're nothing but a mindless lackey, I expected more from you," Ryo said, grabbing Ken by his upper arms, his digivice and crystal lying forgotten in the sand, for the moment. _

"_You're hurting me," Ken cried. The pain and the extreme disappointment, a feeling both boys shared at that time, made him forget about his fear. Glaring right back at Ryo he was surprised to see the mindless rage dissipate for a moment in the other's eyes. _

"_Fine then, if you are so determined to stand against me," Ryo said thoughtfully, "you can do so. A game isn't interesting if there is no prime antagonist, a rival. No one would fit that part better than you, my former partner."_

"_Ryo, please," Ken begged, his eyes pleading with Ryo's._

"_But it seems you lack the proper motivation," Ryo said, "I'll help you with that, the last thing I'm going to do for you. Ken, you're right-handed, aren't you? Mephismon, take his left and let that arm transform into the resolution you need to defeat me."_

* * *

**Chapter 30**

"_**Dark Horizon"**_

* * *

Like a rollercoaster ride, or flying an Airdramon through a storm, or an aerial battle. The best, but not accurate, description of what it felt like to pass through a portal through time and space created by the ENIAC. Part of it felt like moving at breakneck speeds, but another and equally pronounced part did not feel like moving at all. Lights flashed around you, long stripes of differing hues. Threads of reality, or something like that. Ryo had asked, and had gotten an explanation, but the details mattered little. And all of a sudden it was over.

The first thing Ryo noticed, when his eyes adjusted themselves from the lightshow during travel, was the distinct absence of it. It wasn't completely dark, but it came close enough. The sky was completely overcast, and the skeletons of buildings rising like tombstones out of the ground around them blocked most of the little light that did manage to work its way through the ceiling of grey. He could not tell what time of the day it was. It wasn't night, but that, and the fact that he did not want to stay around long enough for it to turn completely dark, was all he knew.

"Cheery place," Monodramon said, looking around himself apprehensively as he took a few steps. The buildings around them seemed more than just old and worn down, it was as if a war had been fought among them. The two of them were in an alley of some sort, with only one exit, the one in front of them. A red glow blinked off and on in that direction. Behind them was a metallic patchwork of a fence, topped off with barbed wire. It did not seem so tough, but the debris of other buildings, which had been even less fortunate than the others, formed another barrier behind it.

Pacing around Monodramon did not see the lose rock before he accidentally kicked it away with his feet. It hit an old metallic trashcan with a loud clang, before that fell over too. In the dead silence of the alley it was like a call loud enough to wake the dead.

"Let's just get out of here. The sooner we find out what's wrong with this place the better," Ryo suggested.

"What's wrong with it?" Monodramon said sarcastically. Upset by his blunder, which could have alerted a ton of things to their presence, he couldn't help but fall into an old habit. "Y-You mean what is right with it, that'd be a much shorter list. I mean, look at this place. J-just standing here is giving me the creeps."

"Can't argue with you there," Ryo replied, "Let's just go and see where we are."

Outside the alley the city they were in didn't seem much better, but cities the pair visited rarely were. The streets were grey, just like the buildings, and were filled with large rectangular holes oddly enough. Unlike the wounds in the buildings these did not seem natural at all. No weapon, or attack, he knew of had such an effect.

An old neon light sign hung against the wall of the building to the right of the alley's exit. With only a partially working red kanji marking still working, and that only with a buzzing noise that didn't sound too good, it was the source of the glow they had seen. From the looks of things it wouldn't be working much longer. Most of the street was empty, with wrecks of cars and crates and boxes, pressed against the walls.

A slight breeze, putrid to even Ryo's nose, let alone Monodramon's more acute one, went past the pair. Ryo was glad the buildings made a windshield, sort of, as he did not want to smell the decay of the city anymore than he had too. He really wanted to know where the source of the disturbance was so they could leave. Some dimensions were a lot better than others and this one surely was far down in the barrel.

The two moved slowly further out of the alley, watchful eyes casting about to make sure there was no one waiting to attack them. It was just such a place, Ryo thought. Everything looked dead, but that didn't mean it actually was.

"I don't believe it," Monodramon said, looking down into the closest of the rectangular holes. It wasn't just some pit but more like a window into a room. The interior didn't seem much better than the exterior, showing the wear and tear of time and wind. Walls were, to some degree, eroded and the wooden office desks seemed to be partially rotten if not fully collapsed under the weight of broken computers. An open doorway showed them that the structure ran a lot deeper than that singular room, but with the little light there was it was impossible to tell just how far. The oddest thing though wasn't what an office complex was doing underground, but that the desks were standing, to their perspective, against a wall.

Ryo looked up from the hole and looked at the others all over the street. And then he realized they weren't standing on some road, but on the side of a building. Not a collapsed one, but one seriously defying gravity.

"The things I get to see," he muttered to himself, softly shaking his head. At first he had thought he was back on Earth, like he was when he had met Takato and Guilmon back in the beginning of his ventures across the dimensions, but such an odd building could only exist in the digital world. He didn't recall ever seeing any kanji in the digital world though, only digicode, but then there were still holes in his memories so that didn't mean much.

* * *

For a time the pair lingered, checking the other holes and the normal buildings to the side. They never entered though; the structures did not appear safe for several reasons. Parts of a doorway let loose when Ryo's hand had merely brushed it and the interiors were as dark as could be. Digimon, with far better eyesight and instincts could call those their home and the last thing they wanted was to end up in one of their stomachs. If there was an agent of Millenniumon about he kept himself well hidden, so in the end they chose a direction and started walking.

They chose to go to the centre of the city, though they did not know it at first. Out of the only two viable directions they could take they picked the one end of the street that seemed lighter than the other. After a while the appearance of the buildings changed, less damaged and less worn until finally they didn't appear to be damaged at all. They became as diverse as either of them had ever seen. Some were cubes, with smooth walls; others seemed made of, out of all things, candy. But none were like the decaying skyscrapers they had left behind.

Slowly the dual nature of the place really started to get to Ryo, just when he was sure they were in the digital world he would see something, like a game store, or a clothing shop, that shook that belief. It made him think he was on Earth after all. But then everything else would hit him and he became, almost, convinced that he was not on Earth. Very confusing.

"This place almost seems inhabitable," Monodramon said at some point.

"And yet we've seen no one," Ryo supplied, looking at a lighted window of a house that even had glass. It seemed so homely, so different from what lay on the horizon at their backs. The skyscrapers, those that still stood tall and proud and those that were on the verge of teetering over, made for a contrasting skyline. "So where is everyone? Are they avoiding us?"

"Could be," Monodramon said, not wanting to consider the possibility that they were alone in a city that could house a large population. If they were alone, what had happened to all the people?

* * *

"Yes, Patamon," a blond teenager said, his voice hard with anger. "I see them."

On the fifteenth floor of the skyscraper he and his partner, the flying hamster Patamon, had a clear view of the second district and its streets. More particularly to two anomalies in those peaceful looking streets. The façade of better times made his stomach crawl, but he had to know what was going on in the better trafficked parts of the city. That was why he often sat there, high in the buildings on the border between the outer layer of the city and the second. At least when he wasn't instigating fights with those loyal to the city's ruler, the one who had ravaged everything he had stood for and created the city known as Dustbin, a collection of parts of the old worlds. Their most hated enemy, the great betrayer.

"What are we going to do Takeru?" Patamon asked. "This is an opportunity we haven't had in a long while."

"It's also most likely a trap," Takeru said, but the eagerness in his voice negated any thought of holding back. His partner was right, trap or no trap this was the best opportunity to strike back they had had in a very, very, long time. And it should not be wasted.

"Not like that has ever stopped us," Patamon said.

"Exactly."

* * *

"End Times Square."

Reading the crooked signpost aloud Monodramon sounded almost appreciative of the name. It was fitting, in a morbid sort of way, with every other name they had come across. At their backs was another layer of the city, a district called Cry Not Town. That place had been filled with creeks, bridges, waterways and drains. Water dripped everywhere, like a place in tears, only everything went the wrong way. Droplets of water fell up from a puddle and into a tap instead of the other way around, just like streams flowed upward instead of down.

End Times Square was shaped like an hourglass, though its size made that hard to discern from the ground. Small tiles, meant to represent sand, shifted constantly inside the blue tiles of the glass yet when they walked over them they felt no movement. The square was one of four other squares, each with a different motive but all focused on time. One for each of the major compass directions the four squares were the last of the many layers of Dustbin before the monumental structure in the centre. For a while they had seen it in the distance, but now they were almost there. A glimmer hung over the outer wall of the compound, shrouding whatever lay behind it in a mist.

"An optical illusion?" Ryo mused, tapping the moving pieces of stone with his shoes. "Really well done."

"I'm so glad you like it, it certainly cost the world a heavy price." The sarcasm was impossible to ignore. From behind them, walking the watery lanes of cobblestone, a blond teenager and a small digimon approached. The first sign of life they had seen so far and they didn't seem at all friendly.

"Who are you?" Monodramon asked.

"Don't play games with me, you know damned well who we are," the blond replied. "Know also that we're not stupid enough to pick a fight with you here, but if you ever leave your castle again, we will take you down. We will never forget and we will never rest until you, and all those corrupted, will be destroyed."

"What do you have against us?" Ryo called back, trying to recall the boy and his Patamon. Something about him looked familiar

"This is what I have against you," the blond said, showing an egg shaped digivice. It beeped once, enveloping Patamon in a shroud of light. In the young one's place stood a tall humanoid warrior with almost pristine white wings. An Angemon should have pure white wings, but his seemed duller somehow as if he wasn't as holy as he had once been.

"Angel Rod," Angemon called out before throwing his staff like a lance. It crashed into the ground at Ryo's feet, who had instinctively leapt back, with a bright flash. When it faded the boy and his angel were gone, leaving the pair behind with a lot of questions and no answers.

"How rude," Monodramon complained. "Should we try to follow him?"

Ryo shook his head, his eyes gliding from the scorch mark at his feet to the now empty lane. His lips felt suddenly dry, only a half a meter separated him from the impact mark and that only because he had jumped back. Again he had come close to dying and he didn't even know why he had been attacked. "No, let's not. We don't want any unnecessary conflicts."

"So we go to the castle then?"

"Hopefully we'll find some answers, and a warmer welcome, there," Ryo said. The boy had hinted that he would be safe from him in the castle, so that ought to be a good place to try and learn more. The only important thing was to take care of whatever interference Millenniumon had sent back in time, not to tussle with guys who for some reason had a grudge against him.

* * *

All through the days and the nights the sound of a ticking clock never ceased once, its rhythmic emanations echoing through the hollow dungeons. Dark stone slabs, sporadic lighting from antique looking oil lamps, that never needed to be refuelled, and purplish glowing bars were the only things the prisoners saw on a daily basis. Not since the early days of conflict after the great betrayal and the shattering of worlds were all the cells occupied. Now only two of the cells were in use, one close to the entrance and one in the far back, with each cell housing two inmates.

Sitting against the far wall of her cell, her head buried between her legs, the purple haired girl tried so very hard not to think about her current situation. The energy bars cast her shadow back against the wall where it sometimes seemed to shift and move with a life of its own. She never saw it, it only happened in the times when she was alone in her cell and almost drowning in her own despair.

A grating sound came from the passage up, a sound she knew as the ironclad door that led to the dungeon's opening. Her head came up and she hastily brushed away her tears as she stood up. Behind her the darkness that was her shadow stopped its play, fading away like it had never been there in the first place.

Two digimon came into view and the bars of energy faded away. Many times she had thought about simply attacking them whenever it happened, but she knew she never could. Held between the two of them was the reason why. When she came forward they unceremoniously tossed the limp form inside. She caught him, like she always did, and eased him down to the ground. She knew that if she looked up now she would not see the jailers, only the purple glow of the ever present bars.

"Daisuke, are you all right? What have they done to you this time?" she asked, holding him tightly. In the cell they only had each other, neither having seen their partners or another friendly face since they were captured. They were there, V-mon and Hawkmon both; just on the other end of the dungeon, but that could just as easily have been worlds away.

"M-Miyako," Daisuke rasped, his throat completely dry from his ordeal. Quickly she picked up a bowl of water. A crude thing barely fit for a dog, which was what they had become, and brought it to his mouth. She knew he needed some more time to regain his strength; the experiments they were forced to go through always came close to breaking them. If that had been the purpose it would have all been over long ago, but it wasn't. What their captors wanted was not to break them, but to subvert them, to change their crest allegiance to the exact opposite without the means of Dark Seeds – and in that way a more controlled change.

Hers were purity and love, traits she tried to hold on to, but when she was alone it was so very easy to hate, so easy to wish to defile the people who were doing this to them as they tried to defile her. Rationally she knew those thoughts to be wrong, but with every passing day it became harder to hold on to that resolve. She didn't want to be changed, like the original bearers of her crests had been. With dread she thought of Sora, and the avatar of hatred she had become. So uncontrollable and twisted that in the end the Betrayer himself had to put her down.

But even that fear wasn't enough to keep the hate at bay. The only reason she still held out, and they must also have known this, was because of Daisuke. They gave each other the strength to hold on, but by now she was sure this was also a ploy by them to delay the inevitable. To them this was a game, and the longer it went on the more fun it became.

* * *

Black as night and looking none to inviting, the dark gates were the only thing separating them from the castle grounds. That and the two guards who stood in front of it, a tall guy wrapped in bandages and an ogre idly swinging his club around.

Can't just turn back now, Ryo thought. The hostile Chosen might still be lurking back there and without knowing what was going on he was at a serious disadvantage. Then again, going to the castle didn't hold any certainties either, but now that the guards had noticed them coming there was no turning back.

"Good da-" Monodramon started, but he wasn't allowed to finish.

"Halt," a Mummymon demanded, "Who dares approach the gates unannounced? Little Chosen punks."

"There's no need to be rude, is there?" Ryo questioned, going slowly for his own digivice and cards. He had hoped to avoid a fight by going to the castle, not get into one, but as always things seemed determined not to go his way.

Mummymon looked over to him, but the authority in his posture quickly fell away when he saw who stood against them.

"We're only asking for the password," Fuugamon, the ogre, said when Mummymon's tongue seemed to be completely tied.

"Do I need a password?" Ryo asked. He had no idea what was going on, but for some reason these guards held him in some kind of high regard. He, or at least his counterpart, had made quite an impression on these two.

"No sir. Very sorry, we did not recognize you there for a moment," Mummymon said, gesturing that they could proceed.

"Do you need anything else," Fuugamon asked reverently.

"Not at the moment," Ryo said with all the authority he could muster. The two guards bowed in respect. Or was that fear? "Carry on."

Through the gates the castle became clear. Only the thought of the two guards at their backs kept Ryo from showing his surprise openly, and that only just barely. It wasn't the size of the place; he had known it would be big from the scale of the city outside, but what it was made off. And that was everything, simply put. The palace grounds formed a circle field of gardens and forests and outhouses of many kinds all centred on the heart, the castle proper.

It wasn't just one structure but a mismatch of many buildings and landmarks that he knew. One spire he recognized as the Tokyo Tower, though it had suffered visibly. No longer quite as high, seeing as it had several odd bends in it, so some of the beams that should have run vertically now ran horizontally. Another tower, jutting out of the mass at an unnatural angle, was a large clock tower with a working clock, the Big Ben.

"What's wrong?" Monodramon asked when they were out of earshot.

"This castle, it's made up of famous buildings from Earth," Ryo said, "There's Tokyo Tower on one end and the Eiffel Tower on the other." Pointing at the two metallic spires on either end, jutting out like a pair of antennae he continued to gesture other ornaments. "The Big Ben, that's the clock tower. And the entrance all the way over there is the Taj Mahal. This is impossible; they can't have all transferred to the digital world."

"You think we're on Earth then?" Monodramon asked, but he believed that to be unlikely from the other sights on their way through the city.

"I, I really have no idea," Ryo said honestly.

* * *

Ryo and Monodramon moved carefully across the grounds of the large castle. The guards all seemed to recognize him and, for some strange reason, were afraid of him. He had free reign of the place, though his companion drew a lot of suspicious glances. Ryo suspected that if the dragon hadn't been with him he would have already been captured. Distrust of fellow digimon, fear of a Chosen, all of it was just so wrong.

"Something very strange is going on in this world," Monodramon commented.

Curious as they were they didn't want to risk entering the castle just yet. If the guards recognized him it meant he had a counterpart in this world. It was better throughout if he avoided meeting himself at all costs. Something told him that, in this case in particular, he would deeply regret it.

"I know," Ryo answered, "and whatever it is it doesn't feel good."

At the moment they were in a very dreary garden, a field of grass with an offset tree. He stepped on a large wooden porch lying parallel with a series of small buildings. Screens of bamboo, or some other wood, blocked out the outside world, as much of an outside world there was within the confines of the walls. If he was to get some information he had a better chance of finding it out here and, if it should become necessary, escaping was easier here than from inside the castle. But he really hoped it wouldn't have to come to that.

Suddenly the screen they were passing slid open, making Ryo and Monodramon freeze in mid step. Slowly they turned to look at who had caught them sneaking around.

"Ooh, how nostalgic," she almost purred, then dragged him inside by his arm in one quick movement. The small dragon just stared dumbfounded as the screen slammed shut in his face. He could break through it of course, but that might not be the wisest approach. Better to stay right where he was and simply listen in on the conversation.

"It's been so long since I've seen you in this form, it's so cute."

"Uhm, yeah, I was bored so I thought 'why not'," Ryo said unsurely. Was he really so different from his counterpart in this world? The young woman in front of him looked remarkably familiar, but he couldn't place her exactly.

"Mimi knows so many games we could play," she said playfully. He vaguely recalled meeting the girl at the D1 Tournament, though she was a few years older now. He swallowed nervously at the familiarity she displayed. One mistake now she would surely expose him for what he was or for what he wasn't. In the pit of his stomach he could feel that wasn't something he wanted to see happening. If it was one thing he had learned it was to trust his instincts.

"We wouldn't want you to be bored, now would we?"

"I guess not," he choked out. This wasn't turning out the way he thought it would.

"Ooh, you're so shy all of a sudden, I like it, gives me ideas." she proceeded to rattle a list of things they could use for fun, with every suggestion Ryo felt more and more worried. He couldn't prevent himself from turning red.

"Maybe some other time, I'm kind of busy at the moment," Ryo said quickly to interrupt her ramblings. "I understand, probably going to see the new girl soon right?" she asked.

"I thought about welcoming her," Ryo said, playing along.

"She has been causing us so much trouble, falling in with that rebel bunch, going against your rightful reign. She was one of our original eight after all. But now that Hikari is here she will learn her lesson. I'm so happy you've promised her to me first."

Before he could react she held him in a tight hug and whispered in his ear. "Go quickly, then _we_ can get down to business."

Within moments a red-faced Ryo stood outside the opposable wall with Monodramon again. The dragon had a bemused expression on his face. The screen wasn't thick at all and he had heard everything. For visuals he just had to look at Ryo's face. It also spoke volumes of what had just transpired.

"Why Ryo, I didn't know you were into those kinds of things," Monodramon snickered.

"Me neither," Ryo replied, still not fully able to grasp what had just happened. He did know one thing though; he had to get Hikari out of here.

"Monodramon," Ryo said after a slight pause, "we have to get moving."

"Time to save the girl, right?" Monodramon asked, already knowing the answer. Ryo was not the kind of person to desert someone in need of help, even if it was in a dimension that was destined to be reabsorbed into a more deserving, and hopefully less disturbing, reality. Sometimes he wondered if his partner wasn't needlessly jumping into danger a little too often, as if he had something to prove. Ryo's chivalry bordered on fatalistic, and that didn't bode well for his future. Not the immediate or the distant one.

Ryo nodded, unaware of the dragon's misgivings concerning his recent behaviour, his mind was set on a new goal, a puzzle. He knew Hikari had been captured and that she wasn't locked away in the castle yet, but where could she be? Mimi had told him already, he realized. Hikari was an important prisoner so she'd more than likely be transported in through the main entrance, for all to see.

"Time to save the girl, Monodramon," Ryo said eagerly.

* * *

"So how are we going to go about this?" Monodramon asked, rushing alongside Ryo through the undergrowth of large collection of trees and bushes. This was the shortest way to the large pavilion leading to the castle's gate.

"Well, they seem to hold me in high regard here. I figure we can just go up to them and that'll be it."

"That'll be it all right," Monodramon said, unable to quite hide the sarcasm in his voice. "What if you aren't so high placed here after all? What if they don't buy that you are this world's Ryo. Didn't you hear what Mimi said? Probably not, not with the way she was smothering you."

"Monodramon," Ryo exclaimed, again feeling a blush coming to his face. She did hug him rather tightly. "It wasn't like that at all."

"My point is, she said you looked different," Monodramon said, slamming down a bush before leaping over a large tree root. "Now, she bought it, but she didn't appear all that bright. What if they, whoever they are, won't?"

"If anything goes wrong we still have these cards," Ryo reassured, patting the deck he carried with him at all times. The trees broke in front of them and they were on the large, and decorated, lane leading to the entrance they had seen earlier. The Middle Eastern architectural style was truly grand, even awash with impurities from other cultures. Ryo grinned, from the far end of the large walkway a collection of digimon approached in a tight formation. Between the cracks he could see they were surrounding a form smaller than they were. It had to be Hikari. They were just in time.

"Why does it seem like you actually want to fight them?" Monodramon sighed.

"Is there something wrong with that? They're keeping a girl prisoner and who knows what they'll do to her if we don't rescue her now."

Monodramon glared. "That's not what I was talking about and you know it. You're going to get us both killed in a reality that won't survive anyway. Ryo, you're beginning to scare me. Do you actually want to die or something?"

"No," Ryo said, taking slightly aback. He had no idea his partner was that worried about him. Was he actually taking more risks now than he had done in the past? He supposed he was.

"We're coming up to them," Ryo said in a low voice, "we'll talk about this later. Trust me, I won't do anything foolish. Well, not more foolish than what we're doing right now."

Monodramon groaned and then, in a louder and more authoritative voice, Ryo addressed the lead digimon of the procession. Most of them were clanking Guardromon, but the leader of the group was the android digimon Andromon. A Perfection level and several Adults, not something they shouldn't be able to handle. But for now, until and unless his suspicions were wrong, this was enemy territory. Getting into a fight would bring out the entire castle on them, and that was a bit too much. Perhaps Monodramon did have a point, nothing they did here would matter after they left. Even so, if this world was in trouble because of what his counterpart had done wrong, than he couldn't ignore that either. There were mistakes in his life he would never be able to fix, but here he just might be able to rectify some mistakes, even if they weren't truly his own.

Sorry, Monodramon, ENIAC, he thought, but I have to do this.

"You have brought the prisoner, our most honoured guest, into my presence," Ryo stated coldly, drawing upon the fragmented memories of those villains he had fought.

"My Lord," Andromon said, his eyes making a scan of the two entities in front of him.

A memory came to Ryo, of sitting in a room filled with books. Each of those was a visual representation of a part of the massive database Gennai had assembled over the years. The data of digimon were stored in the tomes in front of him, and he was reading through them all. Not everything stuck, for that there was just too much, but it had kept his mind off of the serious condition his friend was in.

In one, he had read something about android and cyborg digimon. They had scanners that could easily monitor vitals like heart rate or blood pressure. With this guy it was of the utmost importance that he not only fool them with outward appearance and attitude, but also internally. He had to remain calm, his other would not be nervous about confronting a subordinate.

It was too late to tell all of that to Monodramon though, but the dragon wasn't stupid. There had been a time when he and his partner had practically been on the same wavelength, but Monodramon was not V-mon and though the two had their own fair share of adventures by now they weren't as close to each other as he had been with V-mon. It was like a mental block, neither V-mon nor Monodramon were his real partner. He had gotten close to V-mon, but it just wasn't meant to be. He did not want to go through that again, so he kept his private thoughts to himself. Still, Ryo had to believe in his partner now otherwise things would get messy very fast.

"Visual similarity is off by 20, main dissimilarity feature; height," Andromon continued, taking a step in their direction. This broke the circumference around their prisoner. Though only slightly, there wasn't enough room for her to make a run for it.

Ryo could now see that it was truly Hikari they were escorting. Like Mimi she was older than he remembered, but she didn't give him the same uncomfortable feeling Mimi had. Their eyes met and she couldn't hide a mounting fear quick enough. Ryo, trying to hold on to his role as the bad guy, momentarily slipped up when his eyes softened for a moment.

"My appearance," Ryo bit back quickly, again looking cold and arrogant, "is not for you to determine. You have done your duty, you can leave us now."

"Our mission is to escort the prisoner to the throne room," Andromon said.

"And I'm changing the parameters of your mission. Is this a problem?"

"No, sir," Andromon said. The cyborg's brain could handle multiple processes at the same time at phenomenal speeds, but still he had needed a few seconds to confirm the change in orders. Ryo took note of this, but he said nothing. As long as they left it didn't matter how reluctantly they followed his commands.

"Leave us," Ryo said, dismissing them.

* * *

Hikari's thoughts raced. Though she had always considered this a possibility she had hoped it wouldn't have to come to this. The sovereign rarely left his castle anymore, but on the other hand he was also notoriously unpredictable. With the way her luck had been behaving lately she really should've known better.

"Hikari," Ryo said, showing none of the confidence he had displayed with Andromon. In fact, if she didn't know better, she'd say he was actually nervous. His eyes kept looking at the dispersing machine digimon and so did the dragon accompanying him. Another oddity, he usually kept himself away from any digimon, even his own followers. It was common knowledge that to him they were nothing more than tools, programs.

Seeing him like that was almost like how it used to be. The last time she had seen him nervous was years ago, some time after they had first met. She remembered how he had saved them all back then.

She shook the thought away. Those days were over for good; too much had happened to think otherwise. Ryo wasn't nervous, he simply couldn't be. Though he looked like a boy, a genuine human being, he wasn't. He lacked those traits as he lacked emotions. He was just playing her like he did with everything.

"I know this may be hard to believe," Ryo said. "But we've come to rescue you."

"Rescue me?" Hikari questioned. "You've got some nerve. Well, I'm not playing along with your twisted fantasies. This is one game you're not going to drag me into."

"No, wait," Ryo implored, "You don't understand, I'm not who you think I am."

"We're not from around here," Monodramon added. "But we are here to help you, we're friends."

"Funny, you didn't look so friendly a moment ago," Hikari said.

"That was an act, we had to fool those guards to get them to leave," Ryo said.

"You're good at acting, but you won't fool me like you think you fooled them." With every word Hikari felt her own emotions come under control. This was worse than she could've hoped for. At least with Andromon and the Guardromon she had a chance to get away, but not against him. But even so she refused to yield to him and that resolve gave her strength. "I'm not playing your game."

"This is not a game," Ryo snapped, raising his voice just like Hikari.

"What did you say?" Hikari asked, almost shocked speechless. Everything was a game, the Ryo she knew never failed to remind anyone of that.

"I said this is not a game," Ryo said again, calming himself. He had to know getting angry with her wasn't going to do him any good.

"You, you aren't him, are you?" she said, her voice barely a whisper now. Slowly, as if she had to consciously fight herself, she walked up to him. Her expression unreadable she looked deep in his eyes, her face barely an inch away from his. In his face she saw something that shouldn't be there, not with him. There was warmth, a caring for people. And pain, and something she had not seen in there world for a long time, light.

"No, I'm not," he said, feeling his cheeks redden slightly from the proximity. Again his mind drifted back to Mimi, but he dared not think of that further.

"How is this possible?" she asked, taking a step back to distance herself from him and the impulsiveness of her act. As if the flushing was infectious she too had to blush.

"Where we are from," Monodramon said, "Millenniumon has taken control of the future. He's messing around with time so he can get the past too. That's why we are here, to lessen his influence."

"But we can explain this later," Ryo urged. "We shouldn't be standing here much longer. Let's get out of the castle."

"I can't," Hikari said, "I'm sorry. I appreciate the help really, but I came here for a reason."

"I thought it was because those robots captured you?" Monodramon said doubtfully.

Hikari shook her head, "I let them capture me, it was the only way to get in the castle. They're holding some friends of mine captive; I've come to rescue them."

"You were doing a great job," Monodramon said.

"I had everything under control when you two showed up. I was going to slip away once they took me inside," Hikari explained. "If you want to leave, you should go now, but I'm going inside."

"Then we'll go with you," Ryo immediately volunteered while Monodramon groaned.

* * *

"What?" Hikari asked, more snappish than she had intended, when she caught Ryo looking at her again. Though her saviour was not the guy she had spend years fighting, a fact made more clear as he looked a few years younger, Ryo still looked too much like his older self. Old feelings were hard to shake off.

"Nothing," Ryo replied defensively. "I just wondered if they had taken your digivice when you were captured. I don't see it anywhere on you."

"Oh," Hikari said, "No, they didn't take it. I left it with Tailmon when I let them catch me. It won't do me any good here without her anyway."

Monodramon nodded. "So, how were you going to find your friends?"

"I-we have some information on this castle. I know where they were taken," she started, but hesitated in telling them more. Though she didn't believe, or want to believe, that they were playing her she just couldn't divulge too much resistance information.

"You've got spies inside," Ryo said, taking away the need for her to think up an excuse.

"Yeah," she said, glancing away from them. If he was playing her she had just acknowledged they had a presence in the castle.

"So, where are your friends held?"

"The way to the dungeons should be just a few corridors off," Hikari answered.

"Now, what do we have here," a voice purred from behind them.

* * *

"Mimi," Ryo said.

"You promised her to me, it's no fair to keep her all to yourself," she drawled, coming closer slowly, almost like a cat stalking its prey.

"I'm afraid I'm going to be borrowing her time a little bit longer," he said, standing between the two girls.

Mimi scowled and all the playfulness in her voice was gone. When she spoke, promising death with looks alone, Ryo and Monodramon both couldn't help but shudder. "I just knew the innocence was no act. I don't know who you are, but you'll be sorry you've impersonated my master before you die. Maybe I'll get to keep you for a while, though you'll cease to be you long before you draw your last breath."

"Sorry, but I won't be staying long enough to experience your hospitality firsthand," Ryo quipped. With a quick motion he took out a single card and his D-Arc. Though she meant them nothing good he didn't want to harm her and he knew the perfect card for that. Most of his deck was keyed to enhance Monodramon's strength as much as possible. With foes like Millenniumon and his followers he could do nothing less. But a small portion, keyed to his memories as he regained them world after world, served a different purpose. "Cardslash, Palmon."

"What's this?" Mimi asked, holding off in her approach. Between Monodramon's outstretched claws a cloud of fine particles started to form. Thrusting forward he tossed the ball to the girl, fast enough to be near unavoidable. But she did the impossible and dodged, faster than the average and even above average, person could move. The spores missed, but the unexpected attack had shown her that they weren't as unprepared as they had seemed. Turning tail she ran back the way she had come.

For a moment Ryo considered following her before she could warn any guards, but she was running faster than they could. If she made noise their cover would be blown regardless.

"I think we're out of time," he said to Hikari.

"Follow me," she said before running ahead. "Hurry."

* * *

"Locked," Hikari said, rattling the heavy bolt on the door. There were no guards, but still she was sure that this was the door to the dungeons. Her friends were only a locked door away, but she had nothing with her to open it.

"Leave it to us," Ryo said, coaxing the girl to stand aside. Now that they had been discovered, and with guards probably only a matter of minutes away, it didn't really matter how much noise they made. "Monodramon, it's your turn."

"Right," the dragon said, brandishing his knuckles. "Beat Knuckle!"

At first there was barely any effect to the door, but after several hits some small pieces of rock were shaken off at the hinges. Then, at last, the door fell inward with a very loud bang. Falling down the stone steps it continued to break the silence of the corridor. Even if they hadn't been discovered by Mimi there was no way no one had heard that.

In the wake of the door the three went down the stone stairs, their footsteps echoing down, announcing their coming even if the racket they had made in gaining entry hadn't already done an admirable job doing that.

"Daisuke, Miyako," Hikari called out before they had even made it fully down. Ryo wished she hadn't gone in first, if there were any guards down there they'd be walking right into an ambush. Luckily, as they entered the passageway of cells, that worry proved unfounded.

"Hikari? Is that you?" Miyako asked hopefully.

"Yes," Hikari said, coming as close to the bars as she dared. They made her skin tingle, even though she wasn't touching them. "I'm sorry it took so long, but I'm going to get you out of there."

"Thank you," Miyako said, unable to hide a sniff. Almost she had given up hope of ever being free of the torment they were made to endure. Though the bars made her skin tingle at her approach and acutely stung when she forced her hand to pass between them, she did not relent until she had gotten it through far enough to clasp Hikari's. The free girl held the offered hand in both of hers, squeezing it for comfort.

"I don't see V-mon or Hawkmon," Hikari said.

"They're in a cell in the back," Miyako answered, hardly believing what she was seeing.

As Miyako almost came close to tears Ryo also approached the bars. She had one look at him and the smile dropped off her face, leaving Hikari startled and empty-handed in a matter of moments. With a pained scream she backed up against the far wall, trying to get as far away from him as she possibly could. Daisuke, who had been holding back in sight of the tearful reunion, his mind still in a slight fog from the day's experiments, rushed forward. Ignoring the sensations of the bars he tried to punch Ryo in the face, but Ryo saw it coming and leapt back.

Everyone seemed hell-bent on attacking him that day. Silently Ryo swore to himself. After the difficulty he had in convincing Hikari of his good intentions he should've seen it coming.

"You monster," Daisuke growled. "You caught her too?"

Hikari too stepped back a bit, looking at Ryo in confusion. In the excitement she had almost forgotten he was there. When she looked back at Daisuke she was surprised to see him focussing his anger on her now. "Or did you join him as well, is that how it is?"

"That's not how it is," Ryo said sternly, hoping to get through to him. "I know who you think I am, but I'm not."

"You're saying you're not Ryo?" Daisuke said sceptically.

"No, I am Ryo," he said. "I'm just not the one from this reality. I know it's hard to believe and I'm not asking you to trust me. Too much has happened in this world for that to happen. But I ask you to trust Hikari, your friend, who risked everything to come and save you."

"Friend?" Daisuke asked, as if he had trouble understanding the meaning of the word.

"Daisuke, don't you remember everything we've all been through? How we fought and laughed at Ken's side, doing what was right and helping him through his suffering? Miyako, you never once left me alone after my brother died by my hands. Please, believe me, I have not betrayed you," Hikari said.

"Taichi died?" Ryo asked. From what the world outside, and inside, looked like he had known things were bad. But people he knew had died.

"He was turned to the dark side, him, Yamato, and the others of our original group. Only Takeru and I, thanks to Ken, our leader, escaped that fate. You saw Mimi, and what she has become. The Dark Seeds warped their best traits into something unrecognizable. Taichi and Yamato became the generals of the enemy's army. We killed them both, in a great battle," Hikari explained.

"You had no choice," Miyako said.

"I'm sorry," Ryo said, feeling awkward.

"Guys, we don't have much time," Monodramon interrupted.

"We're getting you guys out," Hikari said, "Please trust me."

"We do," Miyako said, coming closer again, though she refrained from looking at Ryo directly. Daisuke was the exact opposite, he couldn't stop glaring.

"Stand back a bit," Ryo said. Though they were sceptical of him they did follow his suggestion. Hikari looked on in interest as Ryo again took a card from his pack. None of the digivices she had seen looked anything like the one he carried, nor did they have such a powerful ability. "Cardslash, Turuiemon."

Twin metal bracers formed on Monodramon's wrists in a small, but bright, flare of light. Making two practice swings, to get used to the weapons, the dragon followed up with two well aimed slashes to the bars. The incisions were quick and, to him, painless, though the sparks that came from them before they died had an annoying sting.

"Monodramon, go find and free the others will you?" Ryo suggested.

"Right," he said, looking at each of the humans in turn before rushing off for the back of the dungeon, "Don't do anything stupid, like killing each other, while I'm gone. Please."

"That power, I've seen it twice now. What is it?" Hikari asked.

"I don't understand the inner workings myself," Ryo said. "But my digivice, a D-Arc, can use these cards to modify my partner's parameters."

"So that is from the future?" she asked while they waited for the digimon to come back. Daisuke and Miyako seemed ill at ease around him, and she couldn't blame them, but for now they needed him. Small talk might help a bit, she hoped.

"Not exactly, I've seen some worlds where they also have these types of digivices and they were, from my perspective, not that much in the future. Other worlds had digivices that allowed them to become digimon."

"Really?" Daisuke asked. His tone between being impressed at the possibilities and that of someone who did not believe a word he was hearing.

"Really," Ryo said.

"I'll be brief, I don't trust you," Daisuke said, "at the first sign of betrayal I'll take you down, understand?"

"Perfectly," Ryo said, not quite used to such outright hostility, at least not from people or digimon who were not his enemies. Worse, he knew those feelings to be justifiable, but that didn't help ease his discomfort and his own anger.

* * *

Monodramon raced quickly through the gloomy passage, his eyes only quickly darting from alcove to alcove as he passed. He would've liked to have been able to go at a more moderate pace, in case there any guards hiding out to ambush him, but he didn't have the time. Breaking the bars with his gauntlets was an almost effortless task, but doing it without them would be unpleasant. None of the cards had a very long lasting effect, so he had to hurry while he still had them.

More than that, he hated leaving Ryo alone at the entrance. Not only was that the place the guards would enter to find only a bunch of humans, but it would be a divided group. Though Hikari seemed to handle his partner's presence well, as well as could be expected under the circumstances, the other two were more likely to kill him as they were just talking to him. That worried him more than a little, not only for the physical threat but the emotional one as well. At times Ryo seemed so distant. He would still be friendly, but it felt fake somehow, like he was shielding himself from feeling too much.

Miyako hadn't been kidding when she said they were held somewhere at the back. The only cell in use was the one at the back wall, next to a large bolted grate that blocked the way to the sewers below. Where the air had been mostly dank near the entrance of the dungeon here it smelled particularly foul.

Not even pausing for a moment to announce his presence he pounced on the bars, destroying them utterly in the process. Though the two inmates were a little worse for wear, most likely through malnutrition, they seemed ready for a fight nonetheless. Of course, they must have heard the commotion up front.

"What's going on?" V-mon demanded and Hawkmon seemed ready to tear through him if he to in order to get to his own partner.

"This is a jailbreak," Monodramon said, surprising both prisoners even more. "Come, your partners are already out, but we've been discovered getting in. There's not much time left."

* * *

When they returned the group stood in an awkward silence, but Monodramon was glad it had not come to blows. For a time it had seemed almost unavoidable with so much resentment. But Ryo would not make the first move and the other two had enough regard for Hikari to not do anything either. Monodramon hoped that the notion that Ryo was different from the one they knew had sunk in a little, and would be believed. That would make things easier if not more comfortable, for the duration of their stay.

"Hawkmon," Miyako said, crouching to give her partner a hug. V-mon and Daisuke showed more decorum, but it was plain to see how glad they were to be reunited. That was until V-mon saw just who the rescue party was. He looked at Hikari with a thankful look, but then he saw Ryo and it all evaporated.

"You!" he roared, ready to attack without any consideration. Quickly Hikari moved to stand between them as no one else did.

"He's a friend," Hikari said, giving Daisuke an imploring look.

Daisuke sighed. "He's with us for now V-mon. Apparently, he's not from this world."

"Will I be greeted like this by everyone I meet?" Ryo muttered.

"Yes," Hikari answered.

Their conversation was cut sort when V-mon's ears twitched and he motioned for them all to be quiet. It was obvious what had alerted the blue lizard, there were voices and heavy footsteps from above. The guards had arrived and were making a perimeter around the dungeon's entrance before going down to get them. It wouldn't be long before they would come down there.

"Is there any other way out of here?" Ryo asked.

"This is a dungeon," Miyako said.

"If we have to we'll fight our way out," Daisuke said, "I'm not letting them take us again."

"Wait," Hawkmon said, "There might be another way. There's a way into the sewer system in the back wall."

"We'll never get the grate away before they come down," V-mon said.

"Leave that to us," Ryo said, "You guys go back."

"What are you going to do?" Hikari asked, her eyes straying to the cards he held. If they had had that ability the entire war might not have ended so horribly and it was fascinating to watch. Koushiro, the old Koushiro, would've had a field day in trying to figure out just how the process worked. To her surprise remembering the old days wasn't as wholly unsettling as she had thought. Perhaps, as she had grown older, she had learned to deal with the past better.

"What we _can_ do," Ryo answered, taking another card from his deck. The same echoing sounds they had made in coming down now started to emanate once again from the dimly lit passage up.

"Let's go," V-mon said, leading the others to the back of the dungeon. If Ryo wanted to be a hero he could be his guest. And if he was untrustworthy to begin with it was better to have him at arm's length anyway.

"Combo, elemental fusion. Cardslash, Meramon, Sorcerymon," Ryo said when he and Monodramon were alone. He had used different cards before in conjunction with others, but the time between using them had always been more than just a fraction of a second and he was dying to see the effect. As far as he knew this shouldn't be a problem, the talks with his partner concerning the use of cards, and how it affected him, had given them a reasonable basis to see this as a viable possibility. It was just that the timing had never presented itself to test it out. If the combo worked it gave them a greater chance against Millenniumon when the time came.

"Oh," Monodramon said at the feeling of two differing powers within him at the same time. His mouth opened when, deep in his throat, a bright flame started to burn. His claws on the other hand started to feel cold, very cold. Small flakes of snow drifted down from his now white claws down to the ground, thawing instantly when they landed on the stone. For a moment he stood there while a shadow landed on the ground beneath them. Someone was closing in on them fast, but then the dragon sprang into action, exhaling a bright torrent of flames from his mouth while streams of icy wind came from his claws. Instead of cancelling each other out they swirled around each other as they went higher up the stairwell. The lead digimon coming down didn't get a chance to scream before the combined fire and ice took him out.

When Monodramon finally let up, having cleared the stairs completely though not of the guards still standing in the higher corridor, they saw the attack had another effect, this one on the stones itself. Exposed to the extreme heat and cold at the same time large cracks had formed, making it look like the rocks weren't going to hold much longer.

"Beat Knuckle," Monodramon called out, leaping up high, using his wings to glide. He only needed to strike the rocks once for the cracks to become too much to bear. With a thunderous explosion the ceiling over the stairs started to collapse, expanding even into the dungeon itself. Ryo and Monodramon had to run for cover as much more than either had expected came down. They were lucky they hadn't brought down the entire castle on their heads.

* * *

When Ryo and Monodramon reached the end of the dungeons they found only Hikari left to wait for them, the others had already gone down the drain ahead of them. The grate had been forcefully removed; its broken pieces tossed aside haphazardly.

"That was some way to take care of things," Hikari said.

"It got a bit out of hand," Ryo said, "but maybe now they'll think twice about following us when they get through the rubble."

"We can only hope," Hikari said, gesturing for Ryo and Monodramon to get down first.

Going down the narrow enclosure with the sludge on the small passage's walls, like a chimney, offering little to no grip, Ryo fell more than he climbed. In the end the walls ceased to be there and he tumbled the last two or three meters freely in new tunnel, landing in the muck. Ryo stood up, but promptly went down again when Monodramon landed on his back.

"Ouch," Ryo complained, trying to get to his knees to shake the dragon off. It wasn't to be when another weight landed on his partner and the three of them went down again.

"Sorry," Hikari said as she got off of them.

"Don't mention it," Ryo said, spitting out some of the filthiest sludge he had ever seen from his mouth.

The group waited below the chute for a while, letting their eyes become accustomed to the new environment. To the four from the prison this was easiest; they hadn't been living in much light for a long time anyway. Finally, when they felt ready and the thought of waiting like sitting ducks had become unbearable, they went down the large tunnel in the direction leading away from the dungeon.

"Does anyone know where we are going?" Monodramon asked.

"Not exactly," Hikari said. "I never planned on getting out this way."

"Don't worry, after breaking us loose how hard can this possibly be?" Daisuke said, but roughly fifteen minutes later they were already hopelessly lost.

* * *

When the group had entered the lowest part of the city, a place of refuge for only the truly destitute, they had not done so unnoticed. Even though nothing had shown itself to them there was life in the deepest recesses of the sewers. Most commonly it was the home of the sludge-like Numemon, who were free from the rule and affairs of those surface dwellers. They weren't free of the food chain though, not with the tunnels being the hunting ground for beasts such as Raremon. But, as threatening as the natural predators were, it were the unnatural ones that caused the denizens of the lower levels to hide for most of their existence.

One such predator had been following the group from the shadows and side passages as they were stumbling about. An obvious weakness of a city wide sewer system was that it allowed unwanted elements to move about even if the streets were patrolled, but patrolling the sewers as well as the streets was unfeasible. Nevertheless they had found a solution to this by constructing the sewers to become a maze where doubling back was a common approach of travelling. Often the passages led you back from where you came before finally going in the direction you wanted to go again. Travel through the sewers took a lot more time than doing the same distance route above ground.

"Admit it," one of the group's members said, a Hawkmon, "We're lost."

"We're not lost, just temporary without a proper course," V-mon replied.

"Perhaps I can be of assistance," the shadowy tracker said, showing himself slightly from a side passage. He was satisfied in seeing them startled at his presence, but kept himself at a distance for the time being.

"Neo," Ryo said, recognizing the boy instantly even with his white hair more dirty than he could recall seeing it before and with a brown rag as a cloak around his body.

"Ryo," Neo said, "Or should I say look-alike?"

"Ryo will do," he answered. "Not that you'll be able to use my name much longer, traitor."

Neo laughed, a cruel mocking sound. "That's funny, coming from you. But can you really afford to spurn my help. After all, I'm not the one lost."

"Yes, we can," Ryo said.

"No, we can't," Hikari said at the same time. The two of them looked at each other, surprised that the other had spoken.

"We can't trust him," Ryo said, pointing an accusing finger in the white-haired boy's direction.

"Neither can we trust you," Miyako said.

"We need to get out of here," Hikari said, "And if he can show us the way then we should let him."

"No good will come of this," Ryo said scornfully.

"We'll keep a close eye on him," Hikari assured him, but she was in charge of her friend's safety and she really brokered no refusal from Ryo.

"As we do you," Daisuke added nastily.

"Fine," Ryo said, glaring at the widening smirk on Neo's face.

* * *

"Are you sure you're leading us the correct way?" Ryo asked Neo harshly. While this Neo had obviously reached rock bottom in his life, he was still someone who had joined with Millenniumon willingly in the past. Unfortunately he was the only one who knew how to traverse the sewers, so they had no choice but to follow him. They had already been lost before he found them, much to Ryo's chagrin. The betrayal he had suffered at his hands, recalled now from the darkness that still hid away parts of his past, was hard to put aside again.

"Yes, yes, I know where I'm going," Neo replied. He hated that he had to deal with Ryo again, but this one was not the evil bastard he remembered. Actually, their coming down in his sewers was a stroke of luck he hadn't believed possible. Well worth the small indignity of grovelling as they could at last supply him with the needs for his revenge.

"Don't think about leading us into a trap," Miyako said harshly, cracking her knuckles. She had already been a captive long enough and she had no intention of becoming one again. Visions of possible deaths she could enact on their mistrusted guide filled her head, but they no longer filled her with quite as much revulsion as before. Testament to the changes the dark lord's scientist had been instilling on her while she had been a prisoner. Try as she might she wasn't able to feel like the person she had been before anymore.

Almost without rhyme or reason Neo led them through large tunnels and small passageways. While he assured them he knew the way it was clear that without him they would never be able to tell where they were. For all they knew they were going around in circles below the castle for the amusement of its sovereign.

The latest narrow tunnel ended abruptly in a large round basin of water. Along the walls were walkways of stone, encircling the liquid body, its surface so black it could hardly be called water anymore. Three more tunnels, along with the one they had come out of, lay evenly spaced along the circular chamber's wall. A dispassionate sound of dripping water filled their ears. Above them a lot of metal pipes ran along the ceiling, many of them leaking in at least a dozen places.

Neo was the first to enter and quickly walked over to the nearest passageway, the one that was on their right. He stood in the opening, watching the others enter the chamber almost in a single line. Had Ryo been paying a bit more attention to their guide he would have seen the expectant and eager look in his eyes before it was too late. Miyako and Hawkmon were the first to follow Neo's path, Ryo and Monodramon following close after. Behind them, at a few meters distance, came Hikari, with Daisuke and V-mon guarding the rear.

Something dark scuttled on the pipes above, unnoticed except by one and he had no intention whatsoever of warning them. It looked like some nasty insect, a black grey in colour with six scuttling appendages. Its eyes, black abysses with a burning core, followed their every move.

It dropped from above and latched onto Hawkmon before anyone knew what happened. It sank its hidden fangs into the bird's neck, destroying his cohesion. The bird warrior didn't have a chance to scream before he burst apart into data fragments, which were greedily absorbed by the alien creature.

Miyako screamed as realization sank in and she fell to her knees, the alien creature right next to her looked at her with a malicious cruelty. A look mirrored by Neo who was standing casually in the opening of the passageway.

The others were one the verge of attacking the murderous beast when a wailing cry of pain came from the small creature. The voice wasn't the creature's though, it was Hawkmon's. A transparent image of a proud birdlike warrior in white armour, Valkyrimon, projected itself over the creature and it began to grow.

"Arcademon," it hissed, "evolves to Arcademon."

The small creature had turned into a hulking beast standing at almost twice the height of the Chosen present. It had orange skin, with purple markings on his arms, legs, chest and head. Small wings sprouted from his back and his whip-like tail cracked in the air in front of them, keeping them back. Rapidly it jumped back and lunged into the same passageway as a smirking Neo, a stone wall closing it behind them at phenomenal speed.

"The exit you're looking for is right ahead," Neo's mocking voice came from behind the wall, "good luck to you, you're going to need it."

"Damn," Daisuke swore, giving voice to the feelings they all felt. Miyako just continued to cry.

Ryo and Hikari went to the purple haired girl's side and helped her up. As much as he would have liked to have given her the time to grieve, Ryo knew there was no way they could stay here. With diminished spirits they took the tunnel Neo had told them to take, already a light could be seen at the far end of it.


	32. Broken Dawn

_The palace throne room was dark and foreboding, the walls of a complete black stone. The roof couldn't be seen, but somewhere in the darkness above the flapping of wings could be heard. A throne of the darkest opal stood on a dais at one end of the long room. From the door, large enough to grant a War Greymon access if need be, ran a velvet red carpet all the way to the dais. _

_On the throne sat a young man in dark regal clothing, though these days his appearance meant little as he could change it almost at will. Truly this was a being of almost limitless power. Neo remembered a time when this was not the case, but that time was long gone. These days Akiyama Ryo wasn't exactly mortal or human anymore._

_He was kneeling in front of the throne, his head held low. Today was the day he would finally get what he had wanted when he joined up with Chimeramon all those years ago – in all that time he had changed, hardened, and what was once important ceased to be. All but that, the first and last kindness in service – or control – of evil.._

"_Rise Neo, there is no need to bow now," Ryo said smugly. Neo complied, knowing full well that denying Ryo anything was life threatening. Knowing also that next time he'd be bowing just as surely. He looked up at his lord, who sat comfortably on the large behemoth of a chair; his head was rested on his right hand. A young woman, who looked at Ryo with the utmost love and admiration, held his left hand. She was once a Chosen_ _Child, now the title of Chosen_ _meant something completely different. It had changed, from something meant to inspire hope to a curse, from children who were brave beyond their years to monsters. To be Chosen was to be tied to the destruction of the world._

_The door on the far end of the room opened and Neo turned towards with an expectant look on his face. As such he didn't see the cruel smirk that appeared on Ryo's face._

_In came the infamous doctor Kido, the resident mad scientist. While he was a brilliant physician he had also created many an abomination to further his research. An assistant rolled a stretcher in right behind him. Unexpectedly Ryo's two most powerful generals, Lord Fire and Lord Ice, closed the line and the door._

_They proceeded slowly till they were all gathered in front of the dais. Neo looked at the stretcher and the girl that lay there, covered by a white blanked except for her head. There was such a calm and relaxed expression on his sister's sleeping form, he couldn't help but smile slightly._

_For a while now she had been under Doctor Kido's care to restore her legs, which was part of the deal he had struck so long ago. _

"_Was the operation successful, Jyou?" Ryo asked._

"_Yes sir, everything went without a hitch," the doctor answered. "She should awaken any time now."_

"_Rei," Neo whispered, stroking her hair slightly. He hardly noticed that Ryo had left his throne and came down the dais, the girl hanging onto his arm in bliss. They too stood close to the stretcher, waiting for Rei to awaken._

_At last she stirred, her eyes opening slowly as she took in her surroundings, focusing first on Neo and then on Ryo. _

"_Rei, how are you?" Neo asked gently._

"_I'm fine," she replied – if there was hardly any inflection in her voice Neo ignored it – and made to get up. Neo took a few steps back to give her space, but ready to jump to her help if she should stumble or fall. As she sat up the white cover slipped from her body, and Neo's smile and happiness dropping from him like a ton of bricks. His eyes widened, looking onto the scene in abject horror._

_His sister was wearing the dark garb he had seen worn by Sora, when he had stood at Ryo's side as he destroyed her. Before the hatred had consumed her fully, she had been in charge of the covert assassin cadres. _

"_No," he choked out. This was turning out all wrong. Rei turned on him, but he wasn't sure what she saw. The spark of life was gone from her eyes._

"_What's wrong?" Mimi asked._

"_This isn't what I wanted," he said in a broken voice. Looking from his sister, to Ryo, and back again. Dead eyes were locked onto his and as hardened as he was, as he had made himself, he flinched back from them. _

_Rei disregarded him and looked to Ryo. "Your orders, master." _

"_Success," Ryo grinned. "My congratulations Jyou."_

"_Thank you my lord. I am most pleased myself, though the Dark Seed process must still be regarded as a dangerous procedure, not to be taken lightly. There are alternatives, I am sure."_

"_And you have my permission to investigate them further."_

"_No," Neo growled, drawing all looks back to him. Now that he was facing all of them he couldn't miss the sadistic smirks and mirth on everyone's faces. Especially Ryo's, he was even laughing. The white haired youth – Ryo's second in command, his second! – who had once been a scourge upon the digital world, looked helplessly into the other's eyes. This had been Ryo's intention from the start, to turn his sister against him, with those damned Dark Seeds. Pure darkness, they were parts of Millenniumon, infused not only with his power but also his twisted psyche. He had seen the other Chosen, even the courageous Taichi, the staunch defender, had turned against everything he had believed in. And now Ryo had subverted Rei's gentle and lively character into something she was not, Sora's replacement, the perfect assassin. All other emotions washed away from Neo; there was only a blinding rage left. _

"_You bastard!" He screamed, starting to lunge at his onetime master. He couldn't even get close; Fire and Ice, the generals that had been the Chosen Children Taichi and Yamato at one time, had both grabbed hold of arms, holding him back. Ryo was laughing hard; his left eye shone an even brighter red than usual._

"_Gentlemen, won't you please show our honoured guest the exit? His part in this game has now bored me," Ryo said. _

_Neo cared not what he did, looking now only at his sister, but she regarded the scene as if nothing was wrong. She said nothing, did nothing, because Ryo hadn't ordered her._

"_You, son of a bitch, you betrayed me! I'm going to kill you, you bastard!" Neo shouted as he was dragged forcibly out of the room. Shouting obscenities and threats all the way till he was out of the castle he swore to himself he would make Ryo pay for what he had done here today._

* * *

**Chapter 31**

"_**Broken Dawn"**_

* * *

"This is foolhardy," Rei said. The pebbles that resembled sand shifting underneath her feet, but she paid it no notice, she never did. 

"You wouldn't say so if you had been attacked by them. Hikari played us all for fools by bringing in that fake, allowing her to be captured and then freed by him," Mimi said. She was angry, angry still that she had been denied what was promised to her as well as being tricked like that. The latter stung more, she conceded to herself.

Rei shrugged, "It was a good plan, better than most the resistance has put up against us. Going after her like this though, is foolhardy. They're the ones fighting us; if we simply wait they'll come to us eventually."

"What's this I hear? Miss Huntress herself, the assassin and infiltrator is opposed to a search and destroy?" Mimi said. Her tone was sarcastic and biting. "What is the world coming to?"

"The Lady is no simple tracker," Kogamon, Rei's sworn partner, said. "Her talent is beyond this."

"Enough Kogamon," Rei said.

"Yes my lady."

"Whippish," Palmon remarked in a low voice. Kogamon glanced at her, past the other two girls, but said nothing. Such remarks did no befit a reply. His refute would be in actions to the honour of his lady.

Palmon scoffed at the notion. While their partners had a rivalry of sorts going on, a state that had only sharpened when they both had started to rise in favour, they had their common grounds and often met on the in-between. Mimi had been gaining the personal favour with their sovereign, or as much as was possible with him, and Rei had been making a name for herself as the unseen general, striking from the shadows. Inside the castle they were regarded above all others, but not above each other; they were equals but they both coveted the higher ground with Ryo. Their rivalry, their games, made that all the more interesting.

The same could not be said for Kogamon and her. He lived a life of strict rules and regulations while she lived far more outgoing. Often, when they interacted, this chaffed.

"So, do your thing. Find them for me," Mimi said.

"No," Rei said, in such a casual way it took a moment for Mimi to register the rebuke.

"What do you mean no?"

"We work best alone," Rei said, raising her right arm. Strapped around her wrist was her digivice, a newer model with a deep black and purple colouration. It beeped, emanating a dark aura unlike the white light of its older counterparts. The aura focused in her palm before she willed it into Kogamon, striking him with a dark beam that stripped away his skin. Like a removed texture, an analogy uttered by their sovereign, it left only his wire-frame body behind before it started to change him into a large crow warrior.

"Kogamon, evolves to Karatenmon," the bird-warrior said, ending his words with a deep bow. And that was how he stayed in front of her until she ordered him otherwise. Duty and a sense of honour were what remained of him even after the change from Igamon to Kogamon. His loyalty was with her even if it had gone against the code of honour he had held on to in the past.

"Let's make this a race," Rei suggested, "Whoever catches Hikari and the impostor first wins."

"What's the forfeit?" Mimi asked.

"First go at Hikari and a favour from the loser, within our statutes of limits. How does that grab you?"

"Grabs me just fine. You're on," Mimi said.

* * *

Ryo sat against the cold stone wall, ignoring the chill that pervaded the rocks of the outer ring of the city. Somewhere within the graveyard of buildings, a remnant of older and better days, was the alley and the gate to the ENIAC they had come from. But, the city being circular, its layers divided like the rings of a tree, he had no way of knowing if they were even close by. The trip through the sewers had been extremely disorienting and now neither he nor Monodramon knew where they were, or where they had to go. 

One of the others might know, but sitting together at the other side of the room they had taken refuge in, he knew he didn't have the heart to ask them yet. Closer to the second layer of the city the buildings hadn't suffered quite as much as farther out, near the large wall that kept it and its inhabitants sheltered from the wild outside world. A place even more lawless and destitute than the city his counterpart had taken for his own.

The room was devoid of anything, everything long since destroyed or pillaged, and only one small hallway away from the street and the manhole they had fled from. Still, though their hideout lacked comforts it also lacked any other inhabitants and that far outweighed the lack of commodities.

Against the far wall Miyako sat crushed, periodically dissolving into tears again after, seemingly, getting a hold of herself. Her emotional state had already been unhinged by her extended stay in the castle dungeon, but even if that had not been the case the loss of her partner had hit her hard. It had taken him some time to remember enough of his past to miss his old partner V-mon, but even that sense of melancholy meant nothing compared to her loss. Neo's demonic bug had absorbed Hawkmon's data, making it impossible for him to be reborn. If there even was a Village of Beginnings left for him to get reborn in. He didn't know and, ultimately, it didn't matter. He had to stop worrying about what was happening and get back to his own mission. If he accomplished that than the horrors of this reality would never come to pass.

Giving her crying friend a last hug, leaving her in the care of Daisuke and V-mon, Hikari slowly got to her feet. Sadly she looked down on Miyako and though she didn't want to leave her, even in the care of Daisuke, she knew she had to. Hawkmon's loss, more than the loss of a friend, meant a considerate drop in their fighting capabilities. Daisuke and V-mon, without a digivice, and she without a partner, couldn't do much. What she didn't want was to leave their fate in the hands of Ryo, of just one guy, regardless of the help he had been in getting them out of the castle.

"I can't stay around to help," Ryo said, looking up when she had come to him. "Every moment I stay here I run the risk of getting stuck."

"What do you mean?" Hikari asked.

"Though this is a temporary reality, from our point of view, if we stay here long enough we might disappear from the timeline we're from," Monodramon said. "And get written into this one. Since there is already a Ryo in this world, the other Ryo's past would essentially become this Ryo's past."

"I would become the enemy you've been fighting," Ryo said. "And this reality might cease being temporary. Also, the Millenniumon from my timeline would have free reign over the past, creating a world that would be worse than this one."

"It would be best if we got back to finding the source of the disturbance and left," Monodramon said.

"I understand," Hikari said, "but I would still like to ask for one last favour. If you help me I'll do my best to help you accomplish what you need to do here."

"What do you need help with?" Ryo asked. Intrigued by the possibilities of what she wanted him to do. He had already helped her in and out of a hostile castle, freeing her friends from the dungeons along the way. But that was more of his own volition; she hadn't asked him to do anything. It couldn't be worse than that, he began to think, but changed his mind almost immediately. It could actually be worse; she could ask him to help her take out any number of her enemies, among which could be his counterpart. Did he want to try? Should he? So far he had heard of himself in other dimensions, but he had never actually met himself. The effect of that, two Ryo's meeting in one timeline, could be disastrous. He couldn't risk it, if that was what she was going to ask he had to refuse and find his way back, wherever that was, on his own.

"I was supposed to meet with Tailmon," Hikari said. "But our escape didn't bring us where I thought we would. I'm defenceless alone."

"You want us to escort you?"

"That's right," she said.

Ryo looked past her, to the other three who, before the flight, had been with four, "What about them?"

"They're as safe here as they are anywhere," Hikari said. "They'll be fine."

"All right," Ryo said. "Let's go."

* * *

Chilly. Certainly the best way to describe the temperature in the city and its surrounding area. With an overcast sky, dark rolling clouds that rarely let much sun through and never let up, it was never hot outside. For most places it wasn't even hot inside, the only place that could count on the luxury of heat was the castle. That was why it was surprising for Mimi, walking with Palmon through Fall Forest, the third layer of the city seen from the centre, when the wind carried a red speck of ember past her. 

Mimi sniffed the air, knowing at once the scent the wind had brought her even if she had not seen the ember. "Something is burning."

"Here?" Palmon said.

"Trouble." There was a toothy grin on Mimi's face. "Want to bet it's related to the impostor?"

"Our win if it is," Palmon said.

"Let's make sure it is," Mimi said with conviction. She remembered clearly when the impostor had made his dragon attack her, using an ability he wasn't supposed to have. Somehow he was able to boost his digimon to new levels and she couldn't chance him doing so again. She went to her top, a tight-fitting piece of pink beneath her opened leather jacket. Though it was cold out she had to look stylish. Bringing out from the folds was an old gold pendant.

"Go Palmon," she said as a dark golden aura formed from her digivice, strapped like Rei's to her wrist, to her hand and the crest. As she released the pendent, letting it fall back against her bosom though this time above her clothes, the aura solidified into a solid ball of energy. With a casual twist she tossed it at her partner.

"Palmon, warp evolves to," Palmon said, her voice rising in pitch as she felt herself get filled with power. Skipping every form but the last she became taller than Lilymon though not as tall as Togemon. An outfit of black and dark red formed tightly around her humanoid body just as a cape and long blond hair fell back over her shoulders, the strands flowing out freely from the rose over her head. In both her hands she had a weapon, a whip and a rapier, made from vines that encircled her upper arms. "Rosemon."

"Go," Mimi ordered, pointing a lacquered finger into the direction of the fire.

* * *

Ryo shivered, even wrapped with his arms around himself. He didn't usually show that he was cold so openly, not even when he had stood, and slid, over an ice-filled crater. This time the chill was just so much more pervasive. It wasn't just there, it went inside you. Hikari, used to it from living in the cold city for a long time, didn't seem bothered by it. She was also far better dressed for it than he was. 

"You want my jacket?" she offered, not even looking back at him. With her in the lead, both he and Monodramon trailing a little behind, they were making excellent track through the empty streets and slanted buildings. Sometimes he thought he heard something from below, coming from inside the tilted buildings that formed their streets, but when he looked down a hole, a window, there was nothing there.

"No thanks," he said, uncrossing his arms. "I'll manage."

"If you say so."

From her tone it seemed she was getting an odd sort of pleasure out of watching him squirm. They walked some more in silence before Ryo broke it. It was a question that had been bothering him since the beginning. "Say, Hikari, where are we?"

"Hm?" She turned her head to the side, regarding him with questioning eyes. "We're not far from the rendezvous now."

He shook his head. "That wasn't what I meant. I mean, are we on Earth or in the Digital World. It looks like both of them."

"You're right; our world does look like both." The words seemed to come from far away, recalling a time and place that was better left forgotten. "You already know that the 'you' from this dimension tried his hand at world domination, like so many other tyrants and despots."

"And he succeeded," he said.

"Yes," Hikari said. For a moment she slowed in her steps until she was walking next to him, between him and Monodramon. "At first the battles were contained in the Digital World. He felt that digimon were responsible for all the suffering he, and us too, had gone through. His fight was against the four Holy Beasts. In league with Millenniumon he almost couldn't be stopped, but we were with many and the population of the Digital World rose up along with us, those who hadn't aligned with him for promises of power."

"So, you were actually winning?" Monodramon said. Given the results, that was a little hard to believe. "But what is with all of this?"

"We did seem to be winning," Hikari continued, thoughtful of what had happened and where they had all gone wrong. "But then Ryo or maybe it was Millenniumon, showed us up. He had no intention of leaving things solely in the Digital World."

"What did he do?" Ryo asked.

"While he kept us busy, using his minions to strike at vulnerable places like File Island, he and Millenniumon had moved to the space between the worlds. An entity of Earth, an entity of the Digital World, with force they mashed the two worlds together into one. The word is larger now, and in many ways still unstable. At first we were winning, but in the chaos of the union he took most of our first team and turned them to his side."

* * *

Screams of the dying and frightened rang clear. Huts of twigs and branches were aflame as well as the trees. Burrows had collapsed and only a few of the small community were still alive when Rosemon flew on the scene. Even for her it was a shocking sight, not so much for the brutality – she had done worse herself – but for the fact that it was happening in their city. Everyone but the resistance avoided trouble, but the rebels did not perpetrate acts of cruelty. That right was reserved for the administration. Yet here it was. Cruelty and torment, the sweet sounds of the dying. A nurturing ground for the wicked, if there any survivors. She couldn't help but feel slightly exited, especially when she saw the source of the disturbance. 

The beast sat on its haunches in the centre of the village. Those few who still lived tried to get away, but there was nowhere its large orange-skinned arms couldn't reach. Like a serpent its tongue flashed out of its narrow lips, tasting the fear that was almost palpable.

"What the hell are you supposed to be?" Rosemon said, lading gracefully at the edge of the village. Small as it was that only left a few meters between them, but the temptress was confident she was faster than the beast if he should try anything.

"This is Arkadimon," Neo said. He stepped from behind a burning tree, the acrid smoke and the screams hiding his presence almost perfectly. She had not seen him there at any case, but to her he was no real threat. "And he's the last thing you will ever see."

"Still delightfully arrogant, mister sister complex," Rosemon remarked, inclining her head to the beast. "What hole did you drag that thing from? Ugly thing. Perfection?"

"Adult," Neo said, ignoring the barb.

"Still going of blowing your own horn," Mimi said, arriving on the scene. She had run fast, covering the same distance Rosemon had on foot, yet she showed no sign of fatigue. Not a hair was misplaced on her head, no drop of sweat to mar her visage.

"But, be that as it may, we have no time for you."

"I suppose not, you're too busy looking for the guy who had free reign in your castle today and managed to free all your prisoners. Sloppy," Neo said.

Mimi scowled, not even the guards knew of what had occurred. "How do you know this?"

"I met him of course. Who do you think got them to safety? If it wasn't for me you, or whatever crawls in the sludge, would've gotten them already," Neo said.

"Your mistake," was all Mimi said and all that was needed to spur Rosemon into action. The destruction the beast was capable off was impressive, but she had gotten increasingly sick of the way he was ignoring everyone and was just gorging himself while they were talking. That went against Rosemon's sensibilities. Destruction was one thing, but it had to be done in style.

"Roses Rapier," Rosemon called out, her thin blade going straight for Arkadimon's head.

Arkadimon roared, using a poor Alraumon as a shield, skewering the smaller plant on the sharp vine. His heaving muscles bulged and, using the body of the young plant as it was disintegrating as a hold, he forced the temptress into a standstill. His tongue snaked out again, followed by an expectant hiss. He had found his next meal, one strong enough to push him up another level. Bred for power and not intelligence he had a natural desire to evolve, through any means. Aside from calling out his own attacks he lacked even the ability to speak.

"Snatch Whip," Arkadimon hissed, the syllables flowing awkwardly from its thin mouth. Yet the malice in them was unmistakable. His long and thin tail snapped once against the ground, casting up a small cloud of dust, before it shot through his still bent legs. Within moments it wrapped itself around Rosemon's thigh-high boots, her waist and going up to wrap around her neck, the barbed piece on its end coming to close to her slim neck for comfort.

"Rosemon!" Mimi called out. It was both a warming feeling and one of dread as the girl showed an inkling of her old caring for her.

Rosemon gritted her teeth, collecting her energy in the flower bud on her head. "Forbidden Temptation!" She screamed, feeling the tail of her enemy constrict further around her neck. Time was quickly running out, but her body was glowing a bright red now and the rosebud opened. A flurry of red petals shot out of her, colliding with the orange skin of her attacker and the ground. Aiming was not a consideration anymore. The violent spectacle didn't last long, the discharge of power obscuring both from view.

Mimi sighed in relief, but the gesture was premature. Rosemon still felt the whip blocking her airways, with no sign of either letting up or disintegrating. She tried to speak, but Arkadimon's roar beat her to it.

"Prison Fist," Arkadimon hissed. Strong arms, turning to tentacles, wrapped around her, crushing her, and a tongue slithered over her face. She ought to have felt disgusted, but by then she wasn't breathing anymore. Like all the other victims she became a part of the demonic beast.

Mimi ran forward, her own high black boots causing up a small dust storm by themselves. Even in high heels she ran like she wore track shoes, the balance given to her by the sovereign's interference with nature allowing her more than a normal human. Despite all his boasting and arrogance Neo knew he did not stand a chance against her in close combat. His victories with Arkadimon would be meaningless if she beat him.

The beast did not move as she ran past him, looking content as the data of her partner was flowing into his own body. It wouldn't last long, but it would last longer than it took for her to reach Neo, even if he chose to run. He didn't. A loud noise seemed to split the air.

Mimi stopped cold, only a small distance away from her prey. Her eyes were wide with shock, not even registering the pain before she fell to the ground. She didn't catch herself, didn't even try. Slowly a red puddle leaked out from underneath her.

"And that is why I'm better than you," Neo said, slipping the small gun back underneath the belt at his back. She hadn't even known he had one. For Chosen their digimon were their weapons and against digimon they didn't need anything else. No weapon from the old Earth had much of an effect on them, but they did have an effect on each other.

"Arkadimon, if you're done, let's go," Neo said. Again the beast had changed form, growing taller and with full wings. His skin was no longer orange, except for his fists, but a menagerie of dullish green and yellow. It looked at its own claws hungrily. "There are others on which you must feed before we can go after the ultimate prize."

* * *

Ryo had been feeling eyes upon them for a while now, not the furtive and hungry ones from the shadows around and below them. No simple predator watched them this time, now the feeling came from above, and these were the kind of prying eyes who knew exactly what they were getting themselves into. Considering whom those could belong to that wasn't a reassuring thought. 

"Are we there yet," Ryo asked.

"It's close by now," Hikari replied. After living in hiding for many years, always on the alert for uncaring eyes, she too had noticed the change. One develops an instinct for those sorts of things. Unconsciously they increased their pace, going into a very brisk walk. The three rounded a corner, another street that looked the same as the others. Tall grey tombstones, piercing the sky like lances, on either side and even beneath their feet. And, right in front of them, a platoon of robots led by the gigantesque Andromon. They had come full circle, from walking away from them scot-free to walking towards them with a price on their heads. Sometimes instinct took a nap.

"Excellent, the police always shows up just in time to be too late," Ryo said, grabbing Hikari's upper arm abruptly. "You can take her in from here."

"Failure to comply. Profile does not match," Andromon said.

"'twas worth a try," he said.

"Run," Monodramon said.

"No," another voice said. "Fight." With catlike agility the white feline slipped through the larger robot's legs, somersaulting at the end to land before her partner. In her gloved paw she held a pink-white digivice and a golden locket engraved with the emblem of light. Her clear blue eyes glared angrily at Ryo and she was on the verge of attacking him, guard squad behind her or not.

"He's with us," Hikari said quickly grabbing both offered items. She had barely done so when Andromon reacted. As a unit commander he was not bound to wait for orders. He could not allow them any time to regroup.

"Card slash, Aegis," Ryo interjected, creating the knightly shield in time to block Andromon's large and pneumatically powered punch. The shield fell back from the impact, taking Monodramon, who held it on the other side, with it. The young dragon rolled on the ground before letting go.

"We're up, Tailmon," Hikari said. Both the digivice and crest started to glow in her hand. She didn't waste any time in hanging the evolution catalyst to its accustomed place around her neck.

"Stop them," Andromon ordered, only a few seconds too late. Yellow mitts tore away from Tailmon's glowing body, becoming replaced with longer sleeved gloves, a pure white, on her taller frame. Her blue eyes blinked once before a metallic helmet, adorned with a cross marking and small angelic wings, fastened around her head. A slit in the back allowed her long blond hair to fall freely.

"Destruction Grenade." The call chorused loudly, the entire group of Guardromon responding as one to their commander. Their armoured bodies clanked loudly against each other as they crowded to find an opening to shoot, the sound of their collisions was louder than that of their launcher compartments. But even that was nothing to the sound of dozens of missiles launching.

"Saint Aim," Angewomon said, hovering above the others, staying aloft with her many wings. A cross-shaped aura, showing every colour of the rainbow in perfect harmony, appeared before her and her friends. The missiles collided, first one, then a second, before exploding and setting off a chain reaction in the others. Nothing more hit the aura but fire.

"Angewomon," Hikari said, shoving Ryo and Monodramon ahead of her, back out into the cross-section. "Keep them busy for a moment while we run."

"Too late," Monodramon said. Four figures descended from the sky in pairs, touching down at both sides of the street. The ones who had been following them from high up had seen their chance to make their presence known. Now they were trapped on the intersection, with each of the three ways out blocked.

An angel, formed completely of metal with serrated wings and large scythes for arms, was like a wall of blades. An angry youth, who Ryo recognized as the guy who had almost killed them at the hourglass square, stood next to him. Somehow he had held on to the twisted angel's body without getting cut. The glare that fixed Ryo was intense, sliding from him to Hikari and back. It didn't take much effort to understand what must be going through his mind. Interestingly he showed the other arrivals their fair share of animosity.

On the other side of the street another winged warrior, a black crow with a regal bearing, eased a girl to the ground. Ryo didn't know who she was, but she reminded him of Mimi, the Mimi of this world. It were the eyes, they had the same cold expression in them. Hikari did know her though, and the angry guy too.

"Takeru, Rei," she said. By her tone Ryo knew she was not happy with this current development even though Takeru was on her side. He corrected himself, Takeru hated him but that didn't mean he was on the same side as Hikari. In a world more sane that would have been a given, but not here.

* * *

A solitary figure braved the streets of the city's outer layer alone, ostensibly. He found no one to interfere with his walk, the robes he wore a deterrent for the scavengers that made the buildings - those that reached to the sky as well as those that burrowed underground - their home. Once they had belonged to the old protector of the Digital World, but that man had vanished after the two worlds had become one. The new owner of the robes was just as much an outcast as Gennai had been, he both belonged to the world but at the same time keeping it at bay. More so than the old man he was also an outlaw, as much as the law still applied. 

Soft breathing came from the backpack he wore, an old thing but it still served its purpose. Though asleep now the friend, who had more than deserved a little nap, could spring up to defend him in a matter of moments. The scavengers knew this, knew also that messing with him was bad for more reasons than just that.

He stopped in front of a nondescript building, as plain as all the others but different for what it contained. His body was turned slightly towards the entrance, the hood of his robes that concealed his face also made looking to the side difficult.

Unannounced he entered, going with purpose through the first hallway and into the first room he saw. His presence clearly startled the three who were hiding out, but they relaxed quickly when they saw who he was.

"Ken," Daisuke said.

* * *

"Takeru," Hikari said again, louder this time so that he could hear her. Of all people, except for one, he despised Ryo like no other. Though she was the Child of Light it was the Child of Hope who hated the darkness more than anything, just as darkness hated light. He would kill Ryo, even if it was the wrong one and still call it justified. Their Ryo had betrayed them all; Takeru would say that made every Ryo a traitor. 

"Hikari," Takeru said. His voice was as hard as gravel. "Has light finally succumbed to darkness? Ryo, for what you have done I will destroy you, even if all your forces stand between us."

"Takeru, you don't-" Hikari was starting to say, but the boy at her side interrupted her.

"Takeru, in case you haven't noticed, my 'forces' are trying to kill me. I don't remember you ever being so foolish, though, truthfully, I don't remember all that much about you. Now listen, just this once, to what Hikari is saying, I'm not the guy you think I am." There was an angry undertone in his voice too.

"Games," Takeru answered. Though he sounded as if he was dismissing them it seemed to Hikari that he was considering their words, and what he was seen before coming down. She knew, though the two of them had hardly spoken for months, that he could never seriously believe she had turned traitor. If only because of the crests they held. If only because of the friendship they had shared and the desperate battle against their former friends, one that had marked them both.

"No games," Ryo said.

"Mistress," Andromon intoned, "Your orders?"

"Your orders have not changed," Karatenmon said, in place of Rei. "Apprehend the impostor and the girl. Destroy everyone else."

"If you think you stand a chance against Slash Angemon, go ahead." Takeru threatened. He gave a nod to his armoured companion, who responded in kind. It was the last gesture made in relative peace, as everyone suddenly jumped into action.

"Destruction Grenade," the Guardromon said, accompanied by a more destructive call by the commander, "Gatling Attack." Again compartments opened, on the Guardromon's arms and Andromon's chest.

The slight delay in the calling of the attack and its execution was all the time Monodramon needed to sprint away. Without a shield like Dukemon's, one that was already used and couldn't be executed again for some time, the projectiles would destroy him. Angewomon reached out for Hikari and Ryo, holding them both tightly before leaping away, her wings taking up the escape as she headed out for the sky.

When the missiles came they came fast, most going after the most dangerous of targets, the angel, which allowed Monodramon to flee. There were few options for the young dragon, in fact there really only was one. Though he had attacked them before he seemed to be on their side now, so he ran to Takeru and Slash Angemon, hoping he had indeed decided to help them. For just a second he glanced back at the androids, which were spreading out to capture them. When he looked back to where he was going, Slash Angemon was no longer where he used to be.

Angewomon went up higher and higher. The missiles, led by two shaped like sharks, were right on her tail – sinewy things, though they lacked emotions, they grinned maliciously.

"Hold on to me," she said. Hikari nodded, though the gesture was nigh unperceivable at the speed they flew, with her head pressed against her partner's side. Her arms wrapped tighter around her waist, coming in contact with Ryo's arms. Holding on to the angel and each other the two humans braced themselves.

Not letting up in her flight, leaving the buildings behind them, Angewomon released her hold on her charges. The two wings on her gloved left arm expanded, forming the shape of a bow. Then her flight did stall and an arrow of light formed itself. Bringing back her other arm, pulling the string of equally white energy taut.

"Holy Arrow," she said, releasing the drawn arrow. It shot downward, straight and true, into the shark like missiles. Then the air below the three exploded.

* * *

"Holy Espada," Slash Angemon called out, rapidly shooting towards Karatenmon. His voice had an echoing ring to it, not quite robotic, but not quite living either. His two swords glowed white before he slashed out in a cross-shape. For a brief moment a white cross, of an ornate design, glowed in place of his blades. 

The swordsman countered swiftly with his own two golden blades, locking his opponent in place, neither relinquishing his position to the other. Rei gave the two warriors an appraising look before running around them. The metallic angel did not stop her, and if he had tried the crow warrior would have capitalized on him making an opening. She was no threat to him anyway.

From almost far off, sound had a funny way of becoming distorted before it reached his ears, covered as they were by his helmet, he heard a dull booming. That was in so far it was even a helmet he was wearing, he had never tried taking it off and with the way his body looked he sometimes doubted it was just armour. His body was a living weapon, every part of it sharp and ready to kill. Being anything else was a weakness that neither he nor Takeru could afford. Enemies were all around and friends were hard to find, friendship was even a weakness of itself. They had all learned that the hard way. Yet, sometimes, he wondered how things could have been had the world not become mad, a world where his partner had not gone cold, where he could be more than a killing machine. Sometimes, but with larger and larger intervals between each time, he wondered.

Following their orders of capturing both Hikari and Ryo, who had taking to the sky, the Guardromon all rose up too, as fast as they could. But one of the androids could not fly and had chosen to attack the largest threat that was in his reach.

"Feather Flare," Karatenmon announced. His black wings spread out behind him, glowing. They beat once, releasing a large amount of charged feathers that exploded on contact with Slash Angemon's armour, scorching it and even corroding it in several places.

Between the flashes the angel saw something reflect in his blade. He drew back and slashed out with his right sword, catching Andromon's rapidly spinning hand, charged with electricity, before it could harm him.

Karatenmon yelped when the current of his ally's attack, conducted through the metal blades of both his and Slash Angemon's swords, shot through him.

"Heaven's Ripper," Slash Angemon said, making his blades wings stretch out before angling them all forward, like knives, to skewer the crow. He missed, Karatenmon had already retreated. But regardless the pressure was off. Now with both swords and his wings he forced back Andromon as well.

"Come," he said to them, going into a battle ready stance.

* * *

Takeru watched his partner fight with one eye as he struggled against two digimon. Though they were of a lower level they were still seasoned fighters and strong in their own right. Most of his attention was focused on an approaching viper, moving deliberately towards him, but at a slight distance. Like a cobra ready to uncoil and spring at its victim he knew she would do the same if he gave her an opportunity. 

"You've been quite an annoyance, like a buzzing gnat that hides behind furniture," Rei said, "But that's all you are, an annoyance."

"And yet I'm still here while your generals keep on falling. It's just you and Mimi left and soon, you will be out of that equation as well. I shall allow no evil to live."

"Zealot," Rei spat, "Your methods are the same as ours; the ends justify the means. That is why you are not welcome with Ken's bunch. That is why Hikari has not spoken with you in months and avoids so whenever she can."

Takeru scowled. "That is also why they had their members captured and why this war has been in a stalemate since-"

"Since you killed your brother," Rei said, ending his sentence for him when he trailed off.

"Exactly," Takeru said. "Had they continued as I told them to this would have already been over long ago."

"Well, lucky for them you are still on the job," she said, slinking ever closer. Then she struck, moving faster than a regular human could be expected to move. She was an expert in incapacitating her opponents, it was part of how Daisuke and Miyako had gotten caught, but he had dealt with her kind before. After Yamato enhanced humans meant little to him. He had trained, zealous in his efforts. She had been right to call him a zealot, but he was more than just a fanatic.

The two tangled with each other until Rei managed to slip a leg inside Takeru's defence, kneeing him hard in the stomach. Takeru almost doubled over, but managed to contain his involuntary movement to a slight bend. He punched Rei in the face, drawing blood at her lip. Rei took a few steps back, wiping the blood away with a finger.

"So you hit girls?" she asked coyly, licking her finger clean.

"The ends justify the means remember," he countered.

* * *

"Tell me, Jyou, what do you see?" 

Two young men were looking up at a huge vision hanging in the centre of the chamber. Its edges clung to pillars, like a vaporous cloud, but the rest was a clear window to another part of the city.

Standing on the dais, next to the throne, Jyou glanced at the seat's occupant. Clear eyes, with a hint of mischief, bore deep into his. He shifted the glasses he wore on his nose, though he didn't need them. After such a long time the dichromatic eyes, one a calm blue and the other a fiery red, still got to him. He looked back to the projected view of a battle. And on that field of battle to one player in particular.

"He looks just like you," Jyou said, still feeling his sovereign's eyes on him. Then the pressure lifted and he didn't need to look to know that he was also regarding the projection.

"He does more than just look like me. He is me," Ryo, the ruler of his twisted world, remarked.

"How can you tell?" Jyou asked. Not that he doubted him, but he was curious just how his master would know and what his relation was to this boy, younger by a few years at least, who had his appearance. Appearances could be deceiving. Though Jyou wasn't all that much older than Ryo he looked it, a result of his work, his lifestyle. Biology was his thing, and limitations weren't. His experiments had aged him, showing wrinkles where there shouldn't be. On the other hand Ryo was a picture of youth personified. No, that wasn't exactly true. Ryo didn't look young, he looked ageless.

Ryo grinned, "My other feels it."

"Interesting," Jyou said. What else was there to say to that?

"I want to meet him."

"What?" Jyou was startled. His sovereign actually sounded interested in something. What was more is that this could mean he was going to go out; he was erratic enough to do this on a whim. Out of the castle meant being outside of the glamour that shielded them. The reason the rebellion hadn't attacked them all yet was because of the protective barrier and the force of the castle. Perhaps they could beat one, Ryo or the castle, but not at the same time. If he went out, they would certainly attack.

"Worried about what will happen to your hide should I lose?" Ryo said.

"Sir, you wouldn't-"

"Of course not." Ryo waved the fake concern away. "But should it happen, you can't help but think of the consequences. Self preservation is a trait of all life, even yours."

"Yes," Jyou replied, it was useless lying to him.

"I wouldn't worry; surely there'll be someone out there who'll pardon you for what you've done. If anything, just tell them I forced you."

"Nobody will pardon me," Jyou said. "Or any of us."

"You never know." Ryo grinned.

* * *

"Saint Aim," Holy Angewomon said, creating a small spherical aura around herself. Small missiles impacted with it and exploded. When she had assured herself they had exhausted their lethal loads – 

more to her two passengers than to herself – she immediately dropped it, not wanting to waste more energy than required. Small auras were easier to maintain than the larger one she had been forced to cast earlier, but were a drain nonetheless. She was strong enough to handle the Guardromon, and more, but their battle had to have alerted someone of what was going on, so she couldn't waste anything she might have need of later.

The protective bubble gone, she strafed to the side, leaving the space she had occupied empty when another barrage passed through. Normally this was nothing, but she couldn't fight with her hands full. Without warning she suddenly executed a flurry of manoeuvres, beginning with a breakneck run towards one group of the flying robots. As expected they responded, but their tracking sensors were slower than she was flying. Right before she was about to hit them she turned away, rolling around in mid-air before stalling when the roll didn't go smoothly.

Now, slow enough, the robots had a lock and so did another small group.

"Destruction Grenade," the Guardromon of both groups called out, before releasing their ballistic loads.

At once the angel's messed up flight stabilized itself, and she dove straight down. Above her the missiles crossed harmlessly overhead. Harmless, to her and hers, but not to the robots. In the space she had stalled the missiles of the two groups crossed each other, flying right on. They had fallen for it; neither group had noticed she had placed herself straight between them. But they did when their fellows' rockets struck them. With a bang two subgroups of the Guardromon had been destroyed.

Dropping down, almost completely vertical, letting gravity help her along, Angewomon past a few stragglers who had not managed to rise as quickly. For a moment they hovered, processing what had happened, before they too went down after her.

* * *

The angel of steel took several steps forward, keeping his wings to the sides of the body as shields while his two sword-arms cut in front of him. The distance between him and Takeru increased, but by the same token so did the distance between his partner and his enemies. A golden sword flashed in the dim light, off to his left, and he raised his wing accordingly, using the blades as a shield. Karatenmon was a seasoned fighter though, even if his skill was being limited by fighting alongside someone he had never partnered up before. The advantage of the lack of familiarity between Andromon and Karatenmon was only of limited use though. 

A second golden blade came in low, cutting beneath his wings. He couldn't lower them for that would create an opening for the first blade. He could've stopped the strike with his own blade, but decided, at the last moment, against it. Wheeling about on the metal-clad heels of his heavy boots he used the momentum to push the first golden sword away and countered the other with his own two swords. Pressing his advantage, with Karatenmon momentarily off centre, he pushed on against the one sword to get to the wielder behind them.

"Gatling Attack," Andromon announced, firing another set of his shark-like missiles at his back. His armour could take the blow, but he couldn't risk it just yet. One attack like that he could handle, but it would weaken him to subsequent ones.

Forsaking the opening against the crow warrior Slash Angemon wheeled around completely, slashing out with one sword in a horizontal fashion and the other vertically. "Holy Espada." The command given, the motions made, the silver-lined cross appeared in the air in front of him and the missiles. Cut into four pieces, each exploded.

"Andromon, override order, entangle," Karatenmon said.

The order came out of nowhere and surprised Slash Angemon for just long enough for Andromon to close the gap between them. It was an order he had only seen used once, and only given to grunts. Soldiers in the sovereign's service had a sworn duty to serve and, if called for, to die for their leader. Disobedience meant death, even if the orders given are suicide, they had to be obeyed. Karatenmon outranked a mere unit commander, but in so far he knew they had spared these orders. Override order, the highest priority even going above self-preservation. Andromon never hesitated.

His spinning hand, charged with power, came at Slash Angemon, but the angel pushed it astray. Andromon kept going, crashing their metal bodies together. The whirring of the spinning hand stopped, and then the android's large arms wrapped themselves around him, pinning him in place.

Slash Angemon could almost feel the twin blades of Karatenmon puncture the armour on his back, sinking deep into his body, but it didn't come. He twisted his head to look behind him as good as he could.

"No!" Slash Angemon shouted, the sound echoing through his skull. An acute reminder of why he rarely spoke in this form and, if he did, why it was in hushed tones.

Karatenmon was in flight, his swords poised to strike, but not at him. He had increased the distance between them, in the belief that the larger distance between the fight and his partner was the best way to keep him safe. He was wrong.

Angewomon catapulted down, wishing she could get there in time. There was no mistaking the situation, not with Slash Angemon held down and Karatenmon almost on top of Takeru. She couldn't see Rei's face, not from that distance, but she could picture it. That girl had a reputation of finding openings to strike where there previously were none, of always getting what she was after. There was no way she could get there in time to save Takeru.

The crow warrior rose up like a phoenix behind Saiba Rei. He saw the small dragon between his mistress and his target, and dismissed him. Monodramon could wait for the return strike, he was nothing compared to Takeru. Taking out Slash Angemon in combat would be a feat that was beyond him. Karatenmon was nothing if not realistic. Even if he had struck when Andromon had him captured there was no guarantee they could kill him. But take out his partner, the source of his power, and all that remained was a Patamon.

* * *

A shadow fell over the boy and the dragon, but it came from behind them and not the front. It wasn't his shadow. Karatenmon brought his two swords up to defend himself, but he was too late. A powerful and large form bowled into him before he could think. Now he was falling back, involuntarily, with something pressed to his chest. It became hard to breath, especially when he landed on his back in the roughest way possible. The air escaped him, the bulk on top of him keeping him from breathing in again. 

"Mistress Rei," Karatenmon managed to utter, but completely out of breath it came out as a mere rasp, before the demon that pinned him down enveloped his head with an oversized claw, and he thought no more.

"Heaven's Ripper," Slash Angemon called out. He cut into Andromon's skin, machinery and wires, with his swords, his wings, and ever serrated part of his body. And then he was free, body parts flying around him before they all evaporated. He did not see the black specks of degrading data, but the hulking form of Arkadimon sitting on top of the dead crow warrior. The demon had taken from him the beast that had dared threaten his partner and robbed him of his vengeance, but also, he had saved his partner. To have fought demons for so long and then to be saved by one, the irony was not lost on him.

Rei assessed the situation faster than any of them, even though her partner had just been brutally killed in front of her eyes. With Angewomon having landed, and in the process of lowering her two passengers to the ground, there were now four digimon against her. The Child was negligible, but one them was an Ultimate, another Perfection and an unknown demon who had to be Perfect level as well at least. Though the Guardromon were coming down, ready to follow their instructions even though it was suicide, she knew she had lost her chance. So she did the only thing open to her, she ran.

"Cover me!" she shouted to the descending robots.

Takeru wasn't going to have that and neither was his partner, but then something happened that worked more in Rei's favour than a blockade of Guardromon ever would. The demon started to roar, a hungry and deafening wail, for Karatenmon had not the strength to push him up another level as his base drives urged him to do.

"What the hell is that?" Takeru said with some alarm when it started to eye his partner and then Angewomon. The female angel looked far more appetizing, the lack of sharp armour overweighing the fact that she was the weaker of the two at that moment.

"Stop, Arkadimon," Neo called out, casually walking out of the shadowy crevice of a nearby carcass of a building. "These are our allies."

"Allies!" Hikari shouted. "You dare call us that after you betrayed us. Hawkmon is dead because of that thing."

"He was the first to join his power with Arkadimon and in turn, his sacrifice, has helped in defeating Mimi and Rosemon," Neo said, looking pointedly at Takeru. "One life for the greater good, certainly that is an acceptable loss?"

"It is not," Hikari said, looking for help from Takeru and Ryo. Neither boy could give it to her; both remembered the times when they had, for the greater good, allowed others to die.

In the war Takeru had gone after the greater evils, even if it meant that if he had left others to die. He had believed that by going after the instigators he could prevent future loss of life. Any escaped evil was a disaster waiting to happen, as Ryo had so clearly shown when he had turned on them.

"You are alone in that belief it seems," Neo said.

"Stop it Neo," Ryo said.

"What do you want? Why shouldn't we destroy you and your pet right now?" Takeru added.

Arkadimon hissed, responding to the threat made against him.

"There are many reasons," Neo said, gesturing for Arkadimon to settle down. Too much was at stake to ruin everything with the beast's almost limitless aggression. But, perhaps, he thought, that aggression could be used. The Guardromon were coming for Hikari and Ryo again, combining their orders to cover for his sister as well as their earlier ones of capturing the two fugitives.

"But it's a bit too crowded here to talk. Arkadimon, feast on the Guardromon."

Eagerly, and thankfully for those it had kept in its sight, the demon looked at the robots. They were weak, and wouldn't help it attain what it sought, but it would sate a secondary need, the need to fight. It beat its twisted wings and rose up to meet them. There was the first, raising its arms, aiming at the approaching form. Arkadimon crashed into it, slowing down not for a second. Its claws wrapped around the robot's arms, the demon ripped them clean off, sending small sparks flying. Then, using the robot's torso as a stepping stone it launched itself up higher. Again it roared, but this time in satisfaction.

* * *

The roars of the beast followed Rei all the way through the long street. It was a haunting sound, something out of a nightmare. She hadn't had a nightmare in years, but she remembered what some of them were like. She remembered the nightmares after her accident, after losing all feeling in her legs. It would do much worse to her if, no, when it found her. 

So she ran, still in the same street. As long as she could still hear it roar in the distance, contending itself with the Guardromon, she was still safe and able to create as large a distance between them as possible. When it stopped she still had plenty of time to hide, in an alley or underground. It had to be underground; its size would limit the places where it could search for her.

Rei wished her partner was still with her, none of the other digimon in Ryo's service was up to snuff, none capable of doing everything she required. But now she had no choice, after she returned to the castle she had to choose another. In her mind there was no doubt about getting safely back. She was no longer the same girl as she was back then, now few could beat her in speed as far as humans were concerned. Not that it mattered much; the population of both worlds had shrunk dramatically after the merging, there were few people still around. Those that were had gone underground, in hiding for wild digimon as well as Ryo's forces. She wondered, for a moment, how many of those compounds were still left. It didn't really matter; they existed until they were stomped out, either by other settlements desperate for more resources, by wild digimon or by them. She had infiltrated a few, instigating their fall from within. How the mighty had fallen.

Then he appeared, suddenly, at the street's end, like a wraith. She had looked – and looked again – all over as she was fleeing. Running from one foe and into another was a common strategy she had employed herself on dozens of occasions. Never did she conceive of falling for it herself.

Her run changed to a brisk walk, then to slow steps before she stopped completely. What was behind her didn't matter anymore. A young man, an ageless man, he wore robes like those of Gennai's old order, like Ken of the resistance, but these were darker. The hood was drawn over his head, casting it in darkness, all but a single speck of red that glowed within. At the same time he was both magnificent and terrifying. Failure, to him, was never an option. She had, for the first time, failed in her mission. And now, for the first time in years, she did feel fear.


	33. Dragons, Demons and Angels

**Chapter 32**

"_**Dragons, Demons and Angels"**_

* * *

Arkadimon's roars had finally ceased, as had the death cries of the Guardromon – though no one mourned their deaths.

Arkadimon sat in wait, some distance from the four humans. Between it and them Slash Angemon and Angewomon had taken up position. If it tried anything they would be on it. It was a small measure of safety.

Hikari shook her head, "We've done well enough without you, better even than with your help."

"Your forces are weakening and so are his," Neo said. He saw things differently. The Chosen Children had been summoned by the powerful digimon, powerful enough to be described as gods, to do what they told them to do. He did exactly that, he too had followed the commandments of a digital god; he too had fulfilled his duty as Chosen. The one, who had been betrayed, by his god, by his allies, was Neo.

He had served as Chosen until that moment, now he followed no gods. But that didn't mean that his goals couldn't coincide with those of the gods, or their followers. "I'm not saying that isn't a good thing, but they are pawns and nothing more. He can afford losing them, but you can't afford your losses. Together we can stand a chance and free ourselves, our world, of him forever."

"Bold words," Takeru said, "But once a traitor, always a traitor."

"Don't think of me as a traitor, but more of an opportunist. Know that if I chose to side with you it is because I believe that we can win. The three of us. Light." He gestured at Hikari. "Darkness." To himself. "And twilight."

Takeru scowled. It was becoming quite annoying, especially by someone like Neo, to be called someone who was halfway between darkness and light. A part of him, something he suppressed quickly, knew that he was right, but it was also a necessary price to pay. That didn't mean he was anymore inclined to work with him though.

"What do you think, Ryo?" Hikari asked suddenly. Ryo hadn't expected her to defer to him for advice, but she did. He looked at her, ignoring Takeru's burning eyes.

"I think Takeru's right," Ryo said. "He may help you now, but when it suits him he will double cross you without hesitation. It's what he did in the sewers and what he has always done."

"What are you complaining about?" Neo said. "It makes me predictable, you should be glad."

"Knowing that you will betray us makes you predictable. How you are going to do that makes you a danger."

"But," Hikari said, loathing herself for even contemplating working with Hawkmon's killer, "it's an offer we can't afford to refuse either."

"Right, because soon he will be here," Neo said.

"What do you mean?" Monodramon exclaimed. He sounded suspicious, and by Ryo's reckoning rightly so. "How do you know that?"

Neo scoffed at the dragon. "I know because I know him. I know Millenniumon and Ryo."

"Not enough to prevent their betrayal," Takeru remarked.

"Regardless," Neo said loudly at the interruption. "I know how he thinks, and if you thought about it so would you. This is a game to him, albeit a boring one at the moment. You've defeated all his lieutenants, cleared the way to the final boss. For him, this means it's the endgame. If you, we, don't go to him he will come to us. And things have changed in favour for the latter."

Neo looked at Ryo and he understood, the other Ryo would come and it would be soon.

"He'll come for me," Ryo said.

"Exactly, and that is one thing we can't allow to happen. He knows this and so he's coming here. Probably at this moment," Neo said.

"So, what do we do?" Monodramon asked.

"Simple, we kill Ryo. Both of them," Takeru said.

"I'd prefer something less drastic," Ryo said, "And if he comes I can still help."

"No! That's the last thing we need," Monodramon objected, "There's no way to know what will happen if the two of you meet. It can be everything, from nothing to the complete destruction of all space time!"

Neo shrugged, "Can't have that. Let's go with Takeru's suggestion."

"You can try," Ryo said. All three boys looked ready to fight with each other.

"Stop it!" Hikari said. She looked everyone over sternly before approaching Ryo. "We'll go with what we've agreed in exchange for escorting me to Tailmon. If you can go back to where you came in this world you can leave before he finds you."

"Unfortunately we don't know where that is," Monodramon said.

"Takeru," Hikari said simply. For a few moments the two stared at each other before he relented. He had followed Ryo soon after he had come into the city; he knew where the long street they had traversed was.

"Fine," he said, "Go about five more blocks east, you can't miss it."

"Thanks," Ryo said, but the gesture was not appreciated.

Takeru looked away. "Save it, just go."

"Thanks for your help," Hikari said, "Now go."

"Don't mention it," Ryo said, and then he and Monodramon were off, to the east. Not a moment too soon. Arkadimon raised its head before coming to its full height, glaring into the street Rei had escaped through. He saw something, felt something, the others didn't. It didn't take them long to feel a tension in the air as well.

"He's coming," Neo said. Even he, who had spent so long contemplating revenge and before that spent time with both halves of him, could not suppress a shudder of dread. Endgame.

* * *

When he arrived on the scene he knew the air was charged, putting people on edge, increasing adrenaline flow. He knew of the effect his presence had on people, knew therefore that the air was charged. He knew of countless things, but knew them personally a lot less. There was no adrenaline-rush for him, not once since the merging of the two worlds. There was no edginess scratching away at the periphery of his mind. Everything was as it should be, as it would always be.

"My friends," he said smoothly, paying the three warriors who stood against him no mind. "It has been so long. Hikari, it pains me so that you came to visit but had no time to see me. It pains me that you had to take our friends away before we got better acquainted. They were making such progress, Jyou misses them too.

Takeru, you never come to visit at all, though I so often spy you close by, looking in. You are more than welcome to call it your home, like your brother did. These cold walls aren't fit for you.

Neo, even you can come back. I understand your outburst and I've forgiven you. All of you are welcome to come home with me."

Neo, Takeru and Hikari, three people who hadn't seen eye to eye in a long time, or at all in some cases, were on the same wavelength now. "No!"

He wasn't disappointed. This was as it should be, as it was always meant to be. And after them he would go for the main course. His rival, their champion, his prodigy, their hope. Ken.

* * *

Hikari could practically feel the grin underneath the concealing hood. It had been some time since she had last seen their Ryo. The dark lord of the castle had practically entombed himself there after enlisting her friends to his side. It was there that he was unbeatable; they could take out the castle's defences, but not with him there. They could probably defeat him, but not while the castle's defences were operational. It was one or the other, not both.

With some trepidation, she held both her crest and her digivice to her heart. While this was the moment they had all been waiting for, the chance to get at Ryo without his formidable defences backing him up, Neo was also right. In fighting his pawns they had weakened themselves.

"For everyone," she said, "We will defeat you. Go, Angewomon!"

Light flared from her hands, seemingly coming from her heart and channelled through the crest and the digivice.

"Angewomon," the angel said, beating her wings to make for the sky. The light enveloped her as she ascended. "Evolves to." Her helmet broke apart, showing a feral quality to her blue eyes. She grew larger, more catlike, but not losing her wings. Pink fur covered her elongated form, a mix between a cat and a dragon. "Magnadramon."

Fully grown the pink dragon's talons slammed into the tall buildings to her side. Her large form could barely fit between them. Out of all of them she was the largest. With her four paws anchored into the grey and skeletal buildings of concrete and iron, she balanced high above street level looking down like a predatory cat. A growl escaped her.

"Holy Flame," she called out, throwing a spiralling flame from her mouth. The blast flew incredibly fast at its target, the robed youth. If he was like her partner it would've been overkill, but against him she had no idea what it would do. Ryo had ceased being merely human when the two worlds had become one.

Ryo leapt back before the flame could strike, a move that brought him well out of the blast radius. Right after the blast struck the pavement, disintegrating it like acid in a matter of seconds. Ceasing fire as soon as Magnadramon saw she had missed the fire still cut deeply into the bowels of the city, leaving a tunnel with its edges still glowing red hot going down.

"Go!" Takeru and Neo commanded, nearly at the same time. Slash Angemon and Arkadimon dashed forward, keeping low to the ground, half flying and half running they went over the new hole in the street. Melee fighters, the both of them, they would be in attack range in moments.

Ryo wasn't going to give them the time. A purple aura, like dancing flames, formed around his frame. Pointing both palms, already crackling with energy, at the approaching duo, he called out an attack name that had belonged to the universe's greatest threat. "Cannon Fire!"

Briefly twin cannons, as mounted on Millenniumon's back, shimmered over Ryo's hands. Then a barrage of small black orbs shot away from him. Small pockets of sealed time they caused great devastation when they struck. Slash Angemon dodged to the right, Arkadimon to the left. Stray bolts struck the ground, and there the ground ceased to exist. Others struck buildings all around, and there the walls ceased to exist.

The three Chosen Children also ran, following instinct over reason, and parted. With the lower floors of the buildings filled with gaping holes, they started to cave in. Magnadramon held on to the buildings with her claws, beating her wings to keep her and them aloft. She couldn't keep it up for long; the structures had gotten too brittle over time. Nevertheless it bought her partner and the other two enough to time to get out of the cataclysm.

Magnadramon flew higher, looking down into the large cloud of dust and debris that was billowing out from the crash site. She couldn't see her partner, or the other kids, but when both Slash Angemon and Arkadimon flew up out of the cloud she knew they were still alive. Without Hikari she couldn't maintain her Ultimate form for long, and the same went for the others.

A form, wrapped in a purple flaming aura also hovered out of the cloud. The aura, billowing around him, spread out to two sides, changing colour as it did so. Around Ryo it remained purple, but the two offshoots became red and blue respectively and continued to grow longer until they formed the neck and head of dragons. Ryo had released the presence of his other half, Millenniumon.

* * *

Ryo and Monodramon ran past empty buildings as fast as they could, counting the blocks as they passed them. According to Takeru the street they were looking for, and therefore the portal out of the post-apocalyptic dimension, wasn't that far off. Even so he wasn't certain they could make it in time. For a while they hadn't been able to see anything, the dust cloud had hit them from behind like a tidal wave. But they had kept on running until they were out of it, several abandoned buildings further.

Ryo looked back over his shoulder when the ground started rumbling. Most of the buildings had by that time already collapsed, and yet only now the ground started to shake. Above the landlocked cloud his eyes were drawn to a robed figure. He was too far away, too high, to make out clearly, but Ryo saw him as if he was right there. He was surrounded by energy, and two dragons that were formed from that energy. The figure looked at him, and though he was so far away, though his face was hidden within his hood, Ryo could see the face as clearly as he could see his own in a mirror. His counterpart had seen him. There was a sudden throbbing deep within his skull. Ryo looked away, pressing his eyes shut against the feeling even as he was still running.

A vision came before his closed eyes, though he should have only been able to see the dark flesh of his inner-eyelids. He could feel some kind of fabric over and around his head, a hood. It was warm, keeping away the chilly air. Down on the streets below him he saw two small specks run, himself and Monodramon. And he knew that he was going to go after them. Then Slash Angemon flew in between them, blocking his view, his counterpart's view, of himself. The armoured angel spoke something, a warning or a threat, probably both, before lashing out with his twin blades.

Startled, and narrowly avoiding a stumble, Ryo opened his eyes again. He knew what was going to happen now if he met his counterpart face to face. They would become one, it had already almost happened, and this reality would become his own. Just closing his eyes allowed him to see what the other Ryo saw, if they were to come in physical contact one of them would not come out alive.

"Ryo?" Monodramon asked in concern.

"Run, Mono," Ryo said. His voice was strained. He was sweating and his throat was suddenly dry. "Just keep on running."

* * *

"Time Unlimited," the blue dragon roared, spitting out a black ball of energy. It crackled with purple trails of power. Slash Angemon's blades came close to decapitating Ryo when the energy ball crashed into him. The effect was instantaneous, at least to everyone except the angel. To his point of view nothing was happening but to everyone else the angel hang suspended in the air, frozen in a moment outside of time.

"Yes, I think I like you better this way," Ryo commented. The angelic warrior was still coming at him, but at not even a fraction of his previous speed. Right now, though he could almost feel the blades at his neck it would take minutes, if not longer, for them to get close enough to be uncomfortable. Being an Ultimate, Slash Angemon was already breaking through the pocket dimension, but it would still take longer for him than it would take Ryo to attack again.

"Dot Matrix!" Arkadimon hissed, lunging at Ryo's back. Focused on the kill even the primitive mind of the demon knew that hitting the core, Ryo's body, would destroy the enemy. The dragon form that surrounded the youth was unimportant.

Ryo wheeled around, annoyed that he was being interrupted, to face an array of glowing dots preceding the demon. His aura flared a deeper purple as he held his hands in front of him. "Energy Cannon!"

Arkadimon's dots collided with the flurry of dark bullets of condensed time. The explosion was powerful and impossibly bright. Ryo, on an old instinct that had no real purpose anymore, shielded his face with an arm, the sleeve of his robe effectively blocking the effects of the flare. The red dragon's head came down in an instant to knock the demon away.

Arkadimon fell, but stabilized himself before he could descend into the dust cloud. Growling the demon flew up again, but more slowly, to find an opening to strike. The dragons made from Ryo's aura weren't as irrelevant as it had originally thought.

"Dimension-" Millenniumon's blue head started to call out. Parts of him were focused on other matters; with three representations of their manifested body becoming preoccupied was a matter of course. But he had not lost track of the angel entrapped inside a pocket dimension, a small place that was already starting to buckle from Slash Angemon's resistance. He had created that dimension and what he created he could destroy, with everything and everyone inside.

Before he could finish Magnadramon charged both of the elongated necks made of energy. Without slowing she crashed headlong into both. The energy that made up the blue and red dragons immediately started to scorch her pink fur. In time it would burn her to a crisp, but for the moment it was a mere discomfort and well worth it to save her old friend. With hind legs and tail around the red manifestation of Millenniumon and her front talons around the blue she kept them all immobilized. Not just herself, not just Millenniumon, but Ryo as well. The youth was the source of the dark god's manifestation. He was its core, which was why only the necks and head immerged from his body and his aura.

"What are you-" Ryo said, but trailed off as he looked up into the catlike dragon's wide maw. Small drops of saliva fell from her sharp teeth, vaporizing on his energy field, but that wasn't what gave him pause. A bright flame, getting larger by the second, was forming and coming out of her throat.

"Holy Flame!"

Ryo didn't hesitate and cut off Millenniumon's power, freeing himself from Magnadramon's hold and being blasted at point-blank range. Now it was just him, the energy that made up his Other dissipating in the air. Free of the weight Magnadramon fumbled for a moment, but the fire came down on course. With the spiralling flame hot on his tail Ryo flew down and into the dust cloud. A second later the fire followed him in, and then the entirety of the dust cloud exploded in a mixture of bright and dark flames.

"Did we get him?" Slash Angemon asked, free again from the pocket dimension.

"No," Magnadramon said, scanning the edges of the conflagration. He was out there somewhere, biding his time. A quantity in short supply, for them, but never for him. Ryo was somewhere within the ruined buildings, stalking them, their partners, or the other Ryo. "We have to find him quickly."

Arkadimon didn't have to be told twice, if it had been listening to the pink dragon in the first place. It was driven to make Ryo's immense power his own. The demon roared wildly as he hovered over the fire, trying to get a smell of his target. But all that its nose picked up was the scent of burning embers.

"Wait, we should stay together!" Magnadramon shouted, but the demon wasn't listening. Already it was breaking away from them on a search of its own.

"Leave him, we have no needs for the likes of that," Slash Angemon said, but she did not agree. Against Ryo they needed everyone they could find, even if it was a despicable thing like Arkadimon.

* * *

With an unceremonious bang the double doors to the darkened observation chamber slammed open. Inside, watching the many screens as if his life depended on it, which in a way it did, Jyou only glanced away a moment.

The doctor, and former Chosen, flipped one of the many switches in front of him. "Unit four, move five meters to your right and tilt ten degrees up," he said, putting the switch back in its former position. The view on the still burning street shifted, giving him a better look at the flying demon. No sign of his master though.

"Why was I not informed of the master's disappearance," Panjamon, chief of the castle's guards, demanded.

"It was not important," Jyou said, still not looking at the icy lion.

Panjamon turned; he never liked dealing with this human and so rarely did. He had a hunch that he knew where the master had gone, and had come to demand that knowledge so he could mobilize the troops. Now he didn't need to ask, the images the Keramon transmitted to the observation room told him what he needed to know. Ryo was able to observe the city at will, but for the rest of them there were only the small viral Keramon to serve as spies.

"You will not go after him," Jyou said. Going after Ryo now would leave the castle too understaffed, and with several key figures not yet accounted for, the leader of the rebellion for instance, they couldn't risk it. With the likes of Hikari and Takeru's partners, as well as that unknown demon, the guards wouldn't be enough to sway the battle in a more favourable light. Again he cursed Ryo's recklessness in going out.

"You are not my boss," Panjamon said.

"No, but he is. He doesn't want you to interfere, that's why you were not informed," Jyou said. "If you want something to do then prepare the troops for a possible attack."

"You think he'll lose?" Panjamon asked sceptically.

"You think we're in a position to assume otherwise?" Jyou countered. The large warrior did not respond, stalking out of the chamber with heavy footsteps. Jyou didn't need to ask to know that the lion was going to maximise the castle's defences. As for him, he continued to direct the Keramon to find Ryo. If their sovereign was to fail he wanted to be the first to know of it.

* * *

Neo went into a tight passage, a narrow slip of space that barely even deserved to be called an alley. He could walk though well enough without scraping the walls on either side, but just the tiniest deviation and he would hit something on either side of him.

There was a drainpipe to his right, ending about a foot from the ground with sharp edges and not going further than a few metres up. He had to press his back against the left wall to shimmy past. A poster of some band that was popular years ago, surprisingly well preserved, hung on the wall next to the pipe. Something made of plastic had lasted longer than the metal pipe. Even for so small an alley that wasn't even the only obstacle Neo found on his way. Some boxes were piled up between him and the exit.

They rattled and creaked when he started to climb on top of them, making him wonder if they were going to hold his weight at all. But despite the appearance of rot they held him well enough, not enough to support any extravagant movements, but for a simple crossing it did fine.

A hunched figure at the other end of the alley looked back from his candid exploration of the next street at the sound. Neo's lips quirked up when Takeru scoffed and turned back to his surveillance. When his back was turned Neo did a quick exploration of the gun he concealed. It never hurt to be prepared.

"Still alive I see," Takeru said when Neo hopped off the crates and began to walk over. There was a note of disappointment in his voice.

"All clear?" Neo asked instead. He allowed the other boy to be cheeky, no need to get into an argument now. With the hidden weapon on him it was he who was in control of their situation. Let the zealot think otherwise, he figured, it mattered little.

* * *

Arkadimon had flown through several streets, blasted through several buildings, and was now thoroughly enraged. Everywhere it looked there were only ruins, in various stages of decay, with no signs of life. Other than two strong ones higher in the air, far above the skyline, but they were off limits. For the moment, so its master told him. And so it listened, he hadn't steered it wrong since. The demon roared, "Dot Matrix!"

There were too many places for his target to hide, an entire city's worth. It only made sense to deprive the prey of hiding places. Arrays of dots streaked away from Arkadimon, striking first the buildings close to him and then further along the street in the direction he was facing. The demon would flush Ryo out of hiding, even if it meant destroying every part of the city. No remorse, or caring, for those that might be inside the buildings existed in its mind.

Slowly the buildings started to collapse in on themselves, creating another large cloud of dust. Small dark specks appeared in the debris field.

"Dot Matrix," Arkadimon hissed, creating more flaring dots in front of him. These did not have the time to fly away. Dark bullets shot at the demon exploded when they came in contact with its improvised attack, the small explosions making it hard for it to see. Several more flew past it, detonating along the buildings behind Arkadimon.

Blinking his eyes against the glare Arkadimon was unprepared for Ryo. The youth made his move within the demon's blink, catching it by surprise. Still adjusting from the sudden brightness he appeared as a dark shadow surrounded by a purple glow.

Ryo held out an arm and something red shot away from it. Arkadimon roared in anger when Millenniumon's teeth sank into his arm before ripping it clean off. It was only lucky for the demon that he noticed, for a moment, a small bright glare in the sky above them. Some rays of the sun, rare in their part of the world, reflected off of Slash Angemon's armour as the angel came speeding down.

When Slash Angemon reached the enraged demon Ryo was already gone again.

* * *

The ground shook from yet another explosion and Hikari ducked down low instinctively. She sat at the opening of an alley with the intention of using it to get into the next street. The blasts were coming closer, just a few blocks away now. Whoever was causing them she did not know, but she knew she didn't want to be in the same place with them. Even at her, for the moment, safe distance, she was bombarded with small pebbles in the aftermath of the shockwave.

"Great," she muttered. The alley was collapsed halfway through, the pile of debris reaching too high to climb over.

Edging back into the street Hikari looked around for another way. If her memory served her there was an intersection a few blocks away that could get her into the next street and the one after that and so on. She'd been making for it by cutting through alleys, going for a diagonal approach. But she couldn't follow the lane she was in to get there, even running as fast as she could she'd still not make it until the devastation reached her.

She started running anyway, perhaps something would slow the source of the explosions down, and perhaps another route would open itself. But staying where she was wasn't going to do a thing for her.

Then the ground shook again, heavier than before. Through the cracks of the buildings to her left another dust cloud swept in. Hikari ran for the nearest building to her right, ducking behind the wall next to the doorway. Making herself as small as possible she waited for the dust to pass her by, taking care not to breathe any of it in. Fortunately it had lost strength when it reached her shelter, keeping her in its grip for only a few seconds.

Before it had completely settled Hikari was on the run again, there was a wall missing at the back of the building, the best way for her to the next street she was going to get.

* * *

Ryo stood in the centre of a spacious office, on the twentieth floor or so. The remains of a large conference table lay discarded on the ground, the same for several chairs. Too few chairs or pieces thereof remained to have been all that had stood at the table. Some dirty pages, trapped halfway beneath a large piece of wood, rustled in the slight breeze coming from the gaping holes in the wall. When it still had glass it must have been a good sight, looking down from such an elevated level. The building's glory days were long gone.

Outside Slash Angemon was taking point, scouting out the deserted ruins for a sign of him. More specifically for the telltale purple aura, the spirit of Millenniumon inside of him, that he had worn since the start of the battle. The aura he was deliberately not calling for anymore. One thing the angel did better than the demon was that he didn't start destroying buildings at will. Arkadimon had a point in trying to take away his hiding places, but its instincts didn't prepare him for the sneak attacks from the dust. And really he didn't need any hiding places; it just made the game more interesting.

Slash Angemon passed by the open window, his head nudged in Ryo's direction. But he did not see him, wrapped in his robes and the shadows. Ryo on the other hand saw everything about the angelic warrior, how his armour's sheen was dampened, how one of his wings was missing a tip. He wasn't quite as bad off as Arkadimon, but he had suffered his share of damages.

Ryo charged forward, coming to the edge of the floor and the long drop down, in three long strides. His robes trailed behind him and the hood had dropped from his head to around his neck. He was grinning.

Slash Angemon saw him at the last moment, when Ryo set off against the concrete floor, shattering it in the process. In the blink of an eye Ryo was right up to the angel, making it too late for him to do anything.

Cupping his hands, one above the other, Ryo touched Slash Angemon's armour. At once arcs of dark energy streaked across and through him, paralyzing him in place.

"Energy Blast!" Ryo shouted. The discharge was instantaneous. The paralyzing arcs more than doubles in size, flaring about all over. The angel felt the urge to scream when a dark ball of energy blasted from Ryo's hands and into him, but it was all happening to fast to either give in to it or suppress it.

Slash Angemon was knocked away, propelled by the energy ball against its armour. In less than a second, before he had even the presence of mind to register what was happening, he crashed through the walls of a skyscraper. He didn't stop there, crashing through several blocks, before finally slamming into the ground. And then the energy ball exploded.

* * *

Takeru ran for his life, not away from the newest explosion as he should've, but towards it. He didn't have any other choice, there was a feeling, a sense of urgency he had not experienced in a long time that drove him on. At first he wasn't able to place the sensation, but then he remembered when and where he had experienced it before, only once before. File Island, when Angemon had squared off against Devimon and died in the process.

So he ran, ran through clouds of dust and debris where he couldn't see and shrapnel scratched his skin. Ran, until he saw the row of penetrated buildings to one side, and a smoking crater in a side street on the other.

"Slash Angemon," Takeru called out, even though he couldn't see who was lying inside the crater yet. It was lucky he had landed in one of the few spots of natural rock under the city and not the hive of lopsided buildings. If that had happened his partner would've fallen out of his reach. There were things down there that would kill him as soon as he had landed, falling on what they perceived as weak in order to survive. "Are you all right? Can you hear me?"

He started to approach slowly, though in his heart Takeru knew it was his partner down in the hole he had lived long enough to know that the heart couldn't always be trusted. Sometimes it wasn't the heart that was speaking but a clever and manipulative enemy, luring prey to them, like a pitcher plant.

He stopped close to the edge, up to where the ground was still smouldering. A small cloud of soot hung over the hole and he could hear a scraping sound, like metal against rock, coming from inside. Slowly Slash Angemon crawled up out of the hole and Takeru gasped at what he saw. The angel's silver armour was tarnished so much that it hardly looked silver at all. There were cracks all over his armour, some of his wings were snapped off and there were nicks in his blades.

"I can still fight," Slash Angemon said heavily. Takeru wasn't so sure; he had never seen his partner so messed up. Before he could tell him to take it easy a fell being swooped out of the air, crashing into the angel and sending the both of them tumbling back into the pit.

"Arkadimon!" Takeru shouted, wheeling around to face their treacherous ally at his back. "Neo, what is the meaning of this?!"

"Just a relocation of resources," Neo answered.

A death scream came from below and the soot that was starting to settle was blown away into the air. Inside the pit, now clearly visible, the demon started to glow, but unlike the pure white light of normal evolution or the dark flare that the dark Chosen used, this glow was neither. It was a sickly white, going more to yellow, and it pulsed with unnatural life.

"Arkadimon," the demon hissed. Again it grew taller, the bulk of its body repositioning itself. The mismatch of colours faded away, until only shades of grey and purple remained. The two red-feathered wings on its back became bat-like and purple, splitting so it now had two pairs of wings instead of just the one. "Evolves to Arkadimon."

The demon was basking in the new power and an increase in its brain functions. With every evolution it became smarter, starting out from a beast driven by instinct alone to a monster that could plan its treacheries ahead of time.

Takeru was completely numbed, he had lost Patamon before, but this time he knew there would be no coming back. The demon had absorbed his data, making it its own. Neo slowly brought his hand to his hidden gun, like with Mimi he expected the blond to make an outburst any minute.

Takeru didn't disappoint, the moment Arkadimon had enough standing around while there were strong enemies out there to destroy was the same moment the boy had enough of brooding. Only the thought of vengeance was on his mind. Arkadimon flapped his wings, giving the two young men on the ground not even a second glance.

As he wheeled around, turning his back on the crater where his partner, his best friend, had been killed, Neo whipped out his gun. Takeru knew at once that he could not run away, the only available exit was behind Neo. He couldn't go the other way thanks to the hole, all he could do was charge and get to Neo before he was pumped full of lead. In truth, gun or not, flight was of no consideration for him. Takeru charged, and Neo fired.

* * *

Ryo hovered where he had thrown away Slash Angemon, no longer even pretending to hide. There was no need for it, only Magnadramon was still in the air with him. She knew she would take his bait and attack with all she had. Even if the chances for victory had almost dwindled to nothing the moment the three had started to attack separately. Together they had stood a chance, not even the sovereign and the entity he was fused with could take the brunt of multiple attacks for long. At least, that was what she had to believe. Without that, without the hope of victory, life would be impossible. She had lived like that before, and it was a fate she did not want to repeat or have anyone else experience.

Beating her wings she approached quickly, firing off another spiralling flame. It missed; Ryo simply hovered higher to avoid it. Only that, no retaliatory strike at all, taken at his very leisure. He was cocky, but he had a right to be.

Magnadramon reared her head up, following the youth's trajectory, taking the fire up higher. But then, she changed it. "Hermit Fog."

The steady flame turned to mist, a corrosive acid that spat out all over. Where it hit the ground it bit deep inside, going through unrelentingly. Unlike the brute force of the fire this was almost passive, but no less potent. Streams and wisps came high and low, its suddenness overwhelming Ryo.

His protective energy field flared, and he launched himself further away in mid-air, but he was unable to prevent his robes from being singed. Already ragged around the edges, the mist bit more holes through the fabric, even hitting his skin. At once it was burned away by his own energy, but the spots where he had been struck felt numb.

"That was clever," he said. Magnadramon wasn't giving him any time to regroup though, even though he had sped out of her attack's way she was closer now. She reached out with a front paw, intent on capturing him, or slashing him. Her grip was strong, enough to easily crush a human.

Ryo grimaced, and then it almost seemed as he exploded. Purple energy spilled out of him, branching off into to separate streams of red and blue.

"Cannon Fire," Ryo announced, throwing out his hands in front of him. At once the barrage of dark bullets shot away from his fingers. Magnadramon was too close, and coming in too fast, to avoid them. Braving the assault as best as she could she ploughed on as the blasts of compressed time scorched her fur. But Ryo wasn't done yet, the twin dragon heads of Millenniumon had formed, their maws open and charging their own attacks.

"Time Unlimited." One of the heads fired a black ball from its maw. Like with its smaller counterparts Magnadramon was unable to avoid. For her, when it hit, time seemed to slow down to a snail's pace. Just like it had been with Slash Angemon before.

"Dimension Destroyer," the other head chorused, and the pressure build in the tiny space, ripped free of the normal proceedings of time, before it burst like a bubble. Magnadramon experienced a debilitating pain, so much she couldn't even scream. Listlessly she dropped to the ground.

"And so ends the rebellion of the dragon of light," Ryo said.

"Exile Spear!" Arkadimon, using the wreckages of Slash Angemon's descend as a cover, was now flying straight at Ryo. Millenniumon's red serpentine neck and head lunged at the demon, but Arkadimon, much to the evil sovereign's shock, simply cut the head from its neck. Its arm, converted to a spear, had no trouble destroying the energy field that made up the dragon's body. Arkadimon kicked, and now it was Ryo who was falling from the sky, crashing through buildings.

* * *

Ryo was glad when the street finally became recognizable as the one he and Monodramon had traversed after coming through the portal of the ENIAC. It couldn't have been more than a few hours ago, yet already it seemed like a lot longer. Something throbbed, just beneath his forehead, in such an insidious way that he really wanted to close his eyes. That was something he couldn't do, not in any case.

Some parts of the city had become familiar to him, gave him the impressions of battles fought long ago. They were not his impressions, not his memories, but his counterpart in this world was indomitable, a will stronger than most. And, at the moment, that will was stronger than his. If he let down his guard he was sure his counterpart would claim him. Would he still be himself if his mind was flooded with the other's memories?

Up ahead a neon-sign blinked, placed above and to the side of the entrance to a rather non-descript alley. And within that one alley was the gate out of there. Ryo wanted to rush through it as fast as he could, while he was still himself. Himself, a relative concept, he thought. He was no longer the boy who had first gone into the digital world. He wasn't the same person anymore who had defeated Millenniumon the first time, he wasn't the same person anymore who had defeated him the second time.

But at his core he was still the same, even if he had roughed up at the edges. That core had set him on the path to help Gennai and, even without his memories, to help Monodramon and the ENIAC. His core personality, that what made him different from the sovereign of this world, was at risk now.

A dark form waited at the alley's entrance, a mounted and armoured knight, who was both mount and rider. Zanbamon had looked better, felt better. Ryo could read in his eyes as he came towards them. He had a slight limp, for the same reason that his armour was cracked in places. He had been in a battle, probably after he come here, and just barely got out.

How fortunate, Ryo thought, a tad sarcastic. He had spend a lot of time, more than he cared to recount, trying to find the anomaly he had been sent to destroy, in a world that was as anomalous as his target, and here he was waiting for him. Zanbamon had not spoken, but Ryo knew him as one of Millenniumon's followers at once. The digimon seemed as out of place in this world as he was.

"Ryo," Zanbamon acknowledged.

"I don't have time for this," Ryo said. Around them the city was coming apart, it was only a matter of time before the destruction would overtake them. And even by then it might already be too late for him.

"Make the time," Zanbamon sneered, "Lampmon was killed because of your trickery, now you will follow him. For our lord, you will be destroyed."

Ryo had already lost his calm, by everything that had happened and was threatening to happen. Zanbamon was mistaking his lack of composure for fear, and he was partially right. The Chosen boy was afraid of losing himself in the madness so prevalent around him. He did not feel fear for the warrior. Somewhere along the line he had lost it again.

"If you insist," Ryo said, resigned to one more battle. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, aware of the risk, but in need of what the second sight would show him. He looked through his counterpart's eyes and knew that the sovereign was busy fighting himself. Ryo opened his eyes. "I seem to have some time to spare after all. Just a few minutes though. So you'll forgive me if this is rather rushed."

"Brat," Zanbamon said, unsheathing his blades, "just because you defeated my master's envoys before doesn't mean you'll be able to just dispense of me. Before he wasn't serious, but this time you're up against one of his generals."

"You don't look like much," Monodramon remarked. Zanbamon gave him a withering glare.

"He's right, you know, you're in no condition to fight. You should have stayed away, but I guess that's impossible for the likes of you. No matter what, you are destined to die, either by my hand or when this reality is collapsed back into the fold. There's no place for anomalies here, not you, not me."

"Ryo?" Monodramon whispered at the admission. He was afraid of this, that Ryo had started to see himself as an anomaly, as a travesty that wasn't supposed to exist. He knew, in a way, that he was right.

Ryo grabbed a random card from his pack; he didn't even look at what was on it. "I'll show you something we've learned from fighting the others sent after us. These cards can enhance Monodramon's abilities, but there's still only so much a Child level can do. Unfortunately, in order to channel the power of these cards, the ability to evolve that the old digivices had, has been hampered. But, there's a way around that restriction. Now watch."

Held between pointer and middle finger the card started to turn blue from his fingers on out. "Card slash, evolution!" Ryo called out, swiping the card through his digivice.

"Monodramon," the little dragon said, as his skin was peeled off. Unlike the evolutions of the other Chosen, powered by a just enough energy channelled through the digivices, this was brute force. Zanbamon didn't wait for the evolution, one unlike any he had ever seen, to be completed. He galloped forward, trying his hardest to ignore the pain shooting through one of his legs.

Before he could reach the larger bi-pedal dragon Monodramon had finished changing. He stood tall and firm, showing more confidence than his smaller form could manage. Wearing green, baggy, pants and pieces of armour strapped to his shoulders, his three-pronged claws, tail and waist, he was a natural fighter. Red spiky hair was released from an opening on the bottom of his horned helmet.

"Evolves to Strikedramon."

* * *

The sounds of battle continued to ring, but they were more violent now than before. How long it had been going on was hard to tell. It felt like hours, but hoping for even an hour against Ryo was a futile thing to ask for. How long was it then? She didn't know anymore.

There were only two left now, Arkadimon and Ryo, both going at each other with what seemed to be everything they had. Surprisingly enough the demon was holding out on equal footing with the dark sovereign.

Hikari stopped for a moment when she crawled through a hole in a wall, staring out into the street she believed Slash Angemon had fallen, and not gotten up from. She recalled how Arkadimon, when still looking like a bug, had killed and absorbed Hawkmon. It had evolved then. And it had evolved again now, which could only mean it had done the same with another digimon. She feared that digimon to be the angel; she feared what it would do to his partner Takeru.

The side street where he had fallen was close by, and after a short sprint she reached it. Bracing herself she went in, immediately seeing her old friend lying on the ground.

"Takeru," she said, bending over him. Blood was collecting in a puddle beneath him, even as he pressed on the wound he couldn't prevent his life from flowing away from him.

He tried to say something when he noticed that she was there, reaching for her with his free hand. She told him not to, to save his strength, but they both knew it was too late for him. The blood was black; he had been shot through his liver.

Struggling to find the words he fixed her with a determined look. Before she realized it he had pressed something cold in her hands. "Use it, it's not too late." He rasped as he spoke.

"Magnadramon went down," she said. Belatedly she felt that she shouldn't have said anything. It would have been kinder to at least let him have the hope they could still win. She didn't feel it anymore.

"There's always hope, Hikari." Takeru smiled faintly, though he was in pain. "It's what kept me going, all these years."

* * *

"Cross Slash!" Zanbamon called out, unsheathing both his swords, a small katana and zanbato, his large cleaver, and slashing with them both in one quick motion.

"Card Slash, Musyamon," Ryo countered. At once Strikedramon dashed forward and into the cross-shaped strike. The swordsman's White Bird Sword appeared in his claws, and he blocked the motion of his enemy's blades. At once the strength Zanbamon still possessed, despite his injuries, became clear to the dragon man. Slowly the two swords were beginning to bear him down.

"A Musyamon's sword, against their general? Preposterous," Zanbamon said.

Strikedramon gave a mighty push against the blades, stopping their advance before pushing them back instead. It wasn't something he could maintain for long, but with the balance now momentarily shifted, he kicked against the leg Zanbamon was favouring.

The mounted warrior grunted, sinking down to his four knees when the clawed foot struck his wound. Not stopping there the dragon stepped back from the two blades and made a strike of his own, managing to knock all three blades away from them.

Zanbamon, taller than Strikedramon even with himself being on his knees, gave the disarmament no further thought. He reached out quickly, grabbing the dragon by his throat to throttle him. Not a sound could escape the dragon's lips but ragged gasps as he struggled for air. He slashed at the general, wanted to kick at him but was already forced to his own knees. In close combat, pitting physical strength against each other, the Ultimate was still stronger than him. Even after all the data he had loaded from Millenniumon's minions. Why wasn't Ryo doing anything? Strikedramon wondered. It couldn't be that he had given up, after seeing what he could be in his counterpart, after the never ending battles? Another card, a boost of strength, anything, but nothing was coming but spots in his shielded vision.

"Strikedramon," Ryo called out firmly, "his stomach, the armour is weak there!"

The command ran through his oxygen deprived mind and he held on to it like a lifeline. He stopped clawing at the arms that held him, stopped each time from doing harm by protective gauntlets. His claws sank deeply into Zanbamon's stomach, going easily through skin and muscle after a momentary delay at the cracked armour. With all the injuries sustained it was a mortal wound, the mounted warrior would not survive to live another day, but it wasn't instantly lethal. Zanbamon was going to die, but not before he had strangled the life out of Strikedramon, not before he had cut apart Ryo.

Zanbamon looked past his first victim, at the boy he would soon kill as well. Dying did not bother him, not if he could complete the service to his master. He smirked triumphantly, even through the pain, but was met with a solemn look and another card in the boy's hands.

"Cardslash, Ookuwamon."

Strikedramon's claw, imbedded in flesh, glowed softly before growing larger, pressing away flesh and whatever else was in its way of becoming a greyish pincer. What started as a slow killing wound in the warrior's stomach now ravaged and tore through his entire torso. Zanbamon choked, losing feeling in his body. His grip on the dragon's neck slipped up, just a little, but it was enough for Strike Dramon to push himself free of the hold.

Zanbamon collapsed into fragments, a cloud of black bits and pieces that swirled around the dragon man before becoming one with him. As he regained his breath Strikedramon felt his strength returning.

"You all right?" Ryo asked.

"Yeah, fine," Strikedramon said.

"We need to become stronger," Ryo said, stepping past his partner. He didn't look back or say another thing as went in the alley and through the swirling portal, a phenomenon only the two of them could see, back to the past of the ENIAC.

* * *

Magnadramon stirred at the sensation of energy flowing into her. She had tried to move before, but every time she tried the flashes of pain put her down again. The pink dragon had landed roughly, her skin pierced by shrapnel in some places and her fur was scorched all over. The only thing she could do was try to hold on to her present form. If she devolved she doubted she'd get another chance to regain her power.

The new energy came from Hikari, but it was different than the girl's soft light. If she had to give voice to the sensation, it would be, _hope. _

Magnadramon's large form glowed softly, and her pain seemed to fall away from her, as did the fur. Only a moment after her worldly pain had lifted her body collapsed in fragments, larger than the black data particles of death, and made of white light. They faded quickly, bringing back the shadows they had momentarily swayed from the grey stones.

Within the crater her fall had created a smaller figure stood, still faintly glowing, though not for much longer. She looked human but was far taller than even the tallest man or woman. Armoured from head to toe in teal armour, opened only at her midriff and a showing of white robes around her ankles, Ophanimon clasped the golden javelin and the dragon shaped shield tighter. She regarded them a moment before rising slowly into the air on gold-plated wings.

Hope, Takeru's crest, the angel thought. Hikari had used both of them, calling on light and hope, to not only revive her but change her as well, from the Dragon of Light to the Great Angel of Light. It was better this way; though she now lacked the pure destructive powers of the dragon she had gained mobility. Against the dark sovereign she needed to be fast.

Though she was glad for the change, for the second chance she hadn't believed possible, she was also sad – with the Crest of Hope in Hikari's hands their friends had to be dead.

"Rest in peace dear friends," Ophanimon said. Her thoughts lingered on the memories of better days, better in the sense that the past, any past, was better than the present. Realistically she knew the times when the old group had saved the two worlds had more than its fair share of downs, but that didn't matter, it were good times.

Her eyes didn't leave the two figures locked in a dance of death in the sky. Many of the buildings had collapsed, making it easy now to see them. Steeling herself Ophanimon flew off to them, the two beings she'd rather both see dead, knowing that killing even one of them was going to be a miracle. Miracles had been in rather short supply in her experience.

"You will not be forgotten."

* * *

After another break in the fighting the two powers did not come together again at once. Instead they hovered far above the devastation their battle had wrought sizing each other up. The demonic Arkadimon held an advantage in close combat that the smaller boy, and the far larger draconic heads that materialized out of him, just couldn't achieve. Up close the dragons couldn't fire, and though the beast he fought against was still lacking in intelligence, compared to Ryo, it had enough in cunning. It had noticed that Ryo couldn't do all of Millenniumon's attacks. By keeping close to him the draconic heads couldn't unleash their most devastating skills. Despite himself Ryo was impressed with Neo's pet project.

"I should've known that tampering with Demon's data was a bad idea," Ryo said. He still wasn't overly concerned with how things were going, despite the fact that most of his clothing lay in tatters and he had nicks and cuts all over. He did not look like he would last much longer.

"Exile Spear," Arkadimon said while rushing forward again, going for the kill.

But now, instead of evading the strike as he had done before, Ryo also shot forward. Rolling around in the air he flew past the deadly spear the demon had turned its arm into. Ryo's open palm only lightly touched the demon's chest, but it was enough to stop Arkadimon's movement entirely. Black streaks of power arced from the boy's fingers.

"Death Crystal," Ryo mouthed to the stricken beast's face. It had realized the miscalculation, realized the trap the world's sovereign had allowed it to fall into. A blue crystal shard, easily the size of its own spear, formed mere centimetres from Ryo's fingers inside Arkadimon's chest. If it had been human the spike would've pierced its heart. When the end of it erupted out of its back Ryo acted fast. He had already seen that pain was no deterrent for the beast, it only drove it on. He pushed down on Arkadimon's chest, forcing the beast away from him.

"Cannon Fire!"

With a small space between them Ryo struck. The blasts all struck Arkadimon head on, exploding on contact and forcing the demon down to the ground. Ryo did not let up until it had disappeared deep under the ground and the hole made was filled with rubble from the surrounding area.

"And then there were none," Ryo said.

"Eden's Javelin!"

A bolt of holy energy, shaped like a regal javelin, hurled past Ryo's face. A small red line appeared on the boy's face, he had not managed to get out of the way in time, even though out of the corner of one of Millenniumon's eyes he had seen the angel approaching at the last second.

Before he could respond Ophanimon attacked with the real version of the javelin that had scratched him. He darted left, and then right again at the second thrust. Charging energy in his fist Ryo punched out at the woman, but got blocked by the shield she carried. The golden head of a dragon that adorned it seemed almost to come alive in the spectacle of the destructive energy Ryo was throwing at it. But it did not break or buckle.

For the second time his position did not seem so secure in the fight, but Ophanimon wasn't going to give him the same opportunity that Arkadimon, in its overconfidence, had given him. She pushed back against Ryo with her shield, changing both of their positions enough so that her javelin could get a strike in.

Above her the two draconic heads just watched the fight, making no move to interfere. Many thoughts went through the angel's head. Were they simply overconfident, an act not unimaginable after all that had already occurred, or were they baiting her into a trap? In a second Ophanimon decided she couldn't afford to be hesitant now, but that moment of hesitation had taken too long regardless.

"Cannon Fire," Ryo shouted, blasting Ophanimon from both his hands. Her armour shielded her, but Ryo wasn't going for the kill. Using the blasts he distanced himself from her and her javelin.

"You are strong," Ryo said, "and that javelin looks like it could actually kill me. It's been a long time since I've seen anything that produces so much holy energy as that thing."

"This Shining Javelin will do more than just look like it could kill you. It will destroy you," Ophanimon promised.

"Not if you're not holding it," Ryo pointed out. He showed her an open palm before bending his fingers as if to hold something. He muttered something, and a spear made of crystal formed in his readied hand. It lacked the elegance of the golden javelin, but it more than matched it for strength.

"A joust," Ryo said, "What do you say?"

Ophanimon just looked at him, seeing his confidence, hearing his coy words, but also seeing just how tattered he looked. His confidence was surely that of a sovereign, but his appearance was now little more than that of a beggar. He was more hurt than he cared to admit.

"Eden's Javelin," Ophanimon answered. The energy formed quickly around the tip of her javelin, a lot faster than it had taken her to attack when she was Magnadramon.

Just as quickly the projection of her javelin shot away from her, going for Ryo's heart. He twirled the spear in his hand around, knocking the projectile away. Immediately he had to twist the spear the other way, grabbing it with both hands, when Ophanimon followed up with a second attack personally. She had done the same thing before and it had worked to get him on the defensive then too.

"Yes, you are good," Ryo said, going into a flurry of movements with his spear, from low to high thrusts and sweeps that flowed into each other. They were almost impossible to predict. Ophanimon matched every single one, but couldn't get in a hit of her own otherwise.

"So are you it seems," she acknowledged.

"It would be interesting to see who would win in a fair fight," Ryo said. He struck with his spear straight forward, an obvious move. Ophanimon countered by hooking her own weapon into his and forcing it to go wide. Both weapons went wide, but the smaller and more manoeuvrable javelin would allow her to recover more quickly. If crystal spear had still been a spear, she would've had her opening. But Ryo never played things fair. A multitude of spikes, each with more points coming from them, like the branches of a pine tree, shot out of the main pole.

Ophanimon was forced to release her weapon or risk losing her hand. With a furious swing Ryo threw his crystal weapon, locked with the javelin, away. Down came the red and blue dragon heads before Ophanimon could recover, clamping down hard on her armour, holding her in place.

"Unfortunately I don't fight fair. Whatever is at my disposal, and it is a lot make no mistake, I use. It's as simple as that."

Ophanimon groaned, even her strong armour was beginning to buckle under the strain of Millenniumon's jaws. Fortunately it didn't break, but on the downside it did mean she had nowhere to go. As long as he held his concentration the hold would not slacken.

Ryo's taunts weren't without basis, he could kill her by unleashing wave after wave of dark bullets, or he could materialize another spear and do to her what he had done to Arkadimon. With her own javelin somewhere on the ground below and her shield-arm held immobile she was at his mercy.

A loud crash came from several blocks away, from where the devastation had not yet reached. Towering skyscrapers blew apart as if something huge was breaking free of its confinements.

"Imperialdramon!" the gargantuan dragon exclaimed, shaking the rubble of his back with his red wings.

"Ken," Ryo muttered at the sudden arrival. In terms of power the dragon was even more powerful than the angel he held incapacitated. A fully powered blast from the cannon on the dragon's back, especially in his current battle-weary state, would certainly overwhelm him.

"Do not get your hopes up," Ryo said, both to Imperialdramon and Ophanimon. The dragon suffered from the same problem as Magnadramon, his attacks were too slow. Charging the cannon, aiming and firing, took time that Ryo would never give him. He'd be out of the way by the time the blast could reach him. "You think I'm just going to float around waiting for you to shoot me? Try it, and see your feathered friend hurled directly in harm's way. Go ahead if you believe you won't kill her, but you'd better do it quickly before I kill her anyway."

"You coward," Imperialdramon growled.

Ryo grinned, and Ophanimon cried out when the jaws tightened. Her armour grated loudly, but that wasn't the worst of it. A sharp tooth, burning to the touch, sank into one of her organic wings.

"Taunting the hostage taker, really smart big guy. Take the shot, you have no choice. Maybe holding her will slow me down; it's a chance you have to ta-" Ryo suddenly cut off. In disbelief he looked at his chest and the golden javelin that was sticking out halfway through his stomach. On the ground the thrower roared its cry of victory.

With the pain of her wing keeping her sharp she charged her palms with energy, shining like a rainbow. There was no time to reconsider; Millenniumon's hold over her had weakened now that Ryo, the core of their entire entity, was distracted, but the opportunity would not last long.

"Sefirot Crystals!" she called out. Ryo's head snapped up instantly, but it was already too late for him to stop her. But the ten crystals, five from each hand, did not go for him. They went up, all of them exploding on touch with Millenniumon's jaws. The hold on Ophanimon weakened more, with a twinge of pain on her part the tooth embedded in her wing was ripped free. In its wake the wing twitched involuntarily. Not all of the crystals went directly for Millenniumon, some ripped through her own armour – in particular the shoulder plates –, shattering it completely in parts, even cutting in the flesh beneath.

Ophanimon heaved, tearing away pieces of the amour that protected her. Right now it was a confinement, not a protection. With her shoulder plating completely gone, and her skin showing the self-inflicted wounds clearly, she was free. In pain, but that she could deal with. She beat her wings, even the punctured one, to distance herself from him.

She saw him reach for her javelin, intent on ripping it out. It was a mortal wound, but Ryo was no longer mortal, and though it weakened him it wouldn't be enough to kill him.

"I won't let you," Ophanimon said. From her hand she flung a barrage of broken light at her weapon before Ryo could reach it. The Shining Javelin responded at once, absorbing the light and converting it to its own purifying energy. The hand that was coming for it slowed, and then stopped completely.

"This, won't stop me," Ryo said. His body, even the two majestic dragons, could no longer move.

Ophanimon shook her head. "At the core Millenniumon is a virus, that gives me the advantage."

"Never," Ryo growled, forcing his hand to move again. From the corner of his eye he saw Imperialdramon charge his cannon, but to him it seemed to be impossibly slow. Every fraction of a second he was moving faster, his fingers could almost touch the cool metallic pole. But then Arkadimon roared again, and a series of tentacles wrapped around his legs, his torso, arms, and neck. Neither the angel's measure or the demon's would work individually, but together, they held him tight. The charging energy reached its peak.

"Never!" Ryo roared.

"Mega Death!" Imperialdramon's roar came right back accompanied by an overwhelming force. Wave after wave of power washed over Ryo, corroding him and the javelin slowly. Arkadimon's tentacles had already been destroyed in the conflagration, their surviving parts retracting back into the demon's arm. The twin dragons roared one final time before vanishing into thin air.

* * *

One solitary figure walked, resolutely, over hills of rubble and fields of debris. It was the centre of the great battle, and for hundreds upon hundreds of meters all around there was nothing but ruins to be seen. Beyond that were the other layers of the city still spiralling to the caste in its centre. The castle was still a formidable bastion, and the rebellion would still be hard-pressed to acquire it and mark the complete end of the sovereign's dynasty, even though the sovereign himself was defeated.

Ken stopped, finally, in front of a broken form. Putting the hood of his robe back with his one arm he knelt in front of him, waiting for the other to notice him. All the while he observed the calm breathing, not at all laboured like most others would be where they in his position. Black particles were coming off his body; though he had once been human he was now dying like a digital being. Humans and digimon, the lines had blurred between the two species when the wall between the worlds came down, when two worlds had become one.

After a few minutes the other's head came up, and two clear blue eyes locked onto Ken.

"Hello, old friend," Ken said, surprising even himself with how calm he sounded. He had loved him, looked up to him, called him his best friend. The kind of older brother he wished Osamu had been. But he had also hated him. Despised him so much for what he had done to him, his friends, and the world. Now, at the end of Ryo's life, Ken found himself empty of feeling. All but remorse and regret for what could have been.

"Hello partner," Ryo coughed, appearing for the first time as himself again and not the demonic oppressor the world knew him as.

Ken had imagined this moment countless times, but now that it was here he found he did not know what to say. Everything had already been said long ago, and now he couldn't even feel the satisfaction at finally having won. His best friend was dying, and the new world was still a dark place and would be for a long time to come. After all the fighting, the hardships and sacrifices, the victory was hollow.

"You finally defeated me. I knew you could do it," Ryo said, his eyes trailing to the stump that remained of Ken's left arm.

"You're yourself again," Ken stated.

Ryo shook his head. "I can't hear Millenniumon right now, but I've always been myself Ken. For everything we did, I'm responsible, even if I had wanted to do things differently, that will never change."

"Do you even regret what you did?" Ken asked sadly.

"No," Ryo said, "the old ways were wrong, and had to be changed. I felt that then, and I feel that now. It's regrettable how things turned out, with the wars and all. You all should've stood with me of your own free will, but instead my hand was forced to use more coercive methods."

Ken stayed silent.

"No, there is one thing I regret. What I did to you Ken, is something I shouldn't have."

Ken's right arm went for his left, or where his left arm ended now.

"Not that," Ryo said. A red glow came to his eyes and his lip quirked upwards into a smirk. Despite Ryo's assurances that he was himself, Ken knew that Millenniumon had influenced him a great deal, if not being the dominant personality outright. "Remember."

* * *

"_Fine then, if you are so determined to stand against me," Ryo said thoughtfully, "you can do so. A game isn't interesting if there is no prime antagonist, a rival. No one would fit that part better than you, my former partner."_

"_Ryo, please," Ken begged, his eyes pleading with Ryo's._

"_But it seems you lack the proper motivation," Ryo said. "I'll help you with that, the last thing I'm going to do for you. Ken, you're right-handed, aren't you? Mephismon, take his left and let that arm transform into the resolution you need to defeat me."_

_The demon beast acted in an instant, or perhaps it only appeared that way as the pain blotted out all reason. Ken fell to the ground, howling in pain and clutching the small part of his arm that was still there. _

_A hand started to pat him on the head, and if he hadn't been the one to order the brutish dismemberment it would almost be gentle. Ken didn't care anymore though, not about the beast or his traitorous friend. All he knew was pain and the certainty that he was dying._

"_You will find the resolve soon, if you live. If you are strong enough to live. I know you are, but I'm going to give you a gift regardless," Ryo said, speaking close to Ken's ear. For the fallen boy it still sounded like it came from far away. _

"_It's the last one, an original. Nurture it and it will make you strong. Strong enough to go against me." Ryo placed something against the nape of Ken's neck, and then pushed it in. A burning pain, drowning out even the torment of his arm, erupted from the back of his skull. Completely overloaded Ken's brain pulled the plug, plunging the boy into blissful unconsciousness._

"_Take heed Ken, Mephismon," Ryo said, "Always plan for a sequel."_

* * *

Ken fell forward, instinctively slamming both arms – as if they were still there – into the ground to stop his head from meeting the ragged edges of the uneven rocks. His right hand found a good place to steady him, but the stump that was his left came down too hard. He grimaced, calling himself fortunate he had been kneeling in the first place. The pain of his arm gave him a focus away from the burn in the back of his neck. He had forgotten what Ryo had done to him.

Their faces were close now, their breathing flowing over each other's face. The red glow of Ryo's eyes was inescapable.

The dark seeds were what had warped the dispositions of the original Chosen, turning them against all they had stood for. A lot of research, or so Ken's information network had reported, had gone into creating the final batch. Earlier experiments had been too unstable, and the seeds had culminated and bloomed. It was said the dark trees found on the castle grounds were what those unfortunates had turned into.

But, now he remembered, the originals had come from the darkest of sources. Ryo had been hit by them, and he had changed soon after. An original, like the one now burning inside of him.

"Farewell, Kaiser," Ryo said. His body fell apart, black spots that drifted upward. For a moment before it was all gone the red glow of his eyes still lingered, but then that too was gone.

"Farewell, Sovereign," Ken said, rising up to his full length and speaking with a steady voice. The pain was already forgotten.

"Ken!" Hikari called out, running as fast as she could over the rubble. Once or twice she almost stumbled, but she didn't fall. When she reached him she immediately embraced him.

"That was a foolish thing you did," Ken said, holding her with one arm. "Why ever did you go alone?"

"I'm sorry for not telling you," Hikari answered.

"I'm just glad you're all right. And the outcome, though costly, is what we've been working for, for so long."

"We've finally won," Hikari said.

"Not yet," Ken reminded her. Held close to his chest she couldn't see the hunger written on his face, "the game isn't over just yet."

* * *

"So it's inevitable after all," Zeed Millenniumon said, "Ryo can't be defeated by others."

Zeed Millenniumon smiled despite the admonition that his enemy still couldn't defeated. It was an expression mostly alien to the dark chimera. Few events in his life had called for an expression of joy, and he didn't expect that to change any time soon.

Every incursion, and every counter of the ENIAC by sending Ryo to rear in the stray realities, was another step in mapping the road to the past. Now, judging by the strength possessed by the splintered reality, he knew he had come near to the goal.

However, as he was moving towards the past, in reverse Ryo was moving towards the future. The ENIAC would be using his incursions to map the exact time and place of his fortress in the future. Every time Ryo had managed to defeat him, therefore it was imperative to gain the past before the boy could reach the future.

"But lord," Skull Satamon, the only other digimon in the throne room, dared to voice in objection.

"That's how I feel," Millenniumon said, eyes narrowing dangerously, "Do you feel differently?"

"No my lord," Skull Satamon said. He vividly remembered the two generals who had believed they could win. Now they were gone.

Ryo had been persistent, not one of programs had worked against him. The latest two, though weakened through other circumstances, had not lasted long either. Millenniumon had been watching most of it. Though control of the world was impossible, the culmination of events that had formed the future and the tight-knitted resistance that kept persisting, his power over time allowed him to look in on the splintered timelines that the ENIAC could not contain. He had seen Ryo, and the boy had performed splendidly.

"My Lord," Skull Satamon said. The skeleton gathered his courage to make his report. "The resistance is getting stronger by the moment, now with generals Lampmon and Zanbamon destroyed by Ryo things are getting dangerous."

Zeed-Millenniumon regarded him coolly. "The resistance is not my concern, what matters, is that they are raised without fail."

"They are, my lord," Skull Satamon was quick to assure, glancing at the three growing forms within the green-liquid stasis vats lining the walls.

"They will ensure complete victory, I expect, when they are finished," Millenniumon said, stating it partly like a sincere expectation and in part as a threat to the techs and researchers who had produced them from the sampled data.

"Unlike the programs that have been sent, these are on a different level altogether. But it takes time for them to complete their growth, time that can't be wasted doing nothing."

A slight figure, a split cape trailing behind him, stepped out of the shadowed alcoves and into the light. Skull Satamon hadn't even realized it was there.

"Though you are only an experimental clone, you shall venture into the past. Your coming, more so than any program could, should pierce the veil that keeps us from our goal. Even if that is the only extent of what you can do, this duty shall be yours. There's no need to win, just to buy the time needed for your brethren to become complete."


	34. The Empty One

**Chapter 33**

"_**The Empty One"**_

* * *

Ryo sat, quietly, on the bluff, his legs dangling over the edge. It was a long way down, the base of the pillar, one of many that made the plateau surrounding the ENIAC's chamber, was hidden in the vast darkness below. Sometimes he suspected there was no bottom, but mostly he didn't give the void any thought.

He had chosen the bluff for that reason, a place where he could just sit and not think. It lay in the shelter of some taller pillars, down the way of the ENIAC's community. In front of him there was absolutely nothing. It made for a perfect spot to seek solace, from people and from himself – for a time.

But that solace was fading, a little more each hour, each day, each venture through ENIAC's gates. Vague senses of familiarity had grown stronger, until finally he could picture scenes in his mind. Not so at the bluff, not at first. Here, he could imagine the bluff being made out of rock, the void filled with an ocean's worth of water, but he could only imagine it. There had been no actual place linked to those thoughts. Forests, deserts, volcanoes and cities, he had seen all of those, but he had never the ocean of the Digital World, never seen a beach there. Yet now, he could remember standing at the ocean.

The holes in his mind were filling, but the memories weren't all his. There was a taste to each, an inkling of what belonged or didn't belong. They were memories of his counterparts and at first he had not known, not that they weren't his or how to distinguish between them.

There were fragments of memories exchanged with the Ryo from another dimension, one where his counterpart had been responsible for the destruction of two worlds and the deaths of millions. That encounter had been direct and potent, the others were far more insidious and slow working, a result of simply being in another dimension.

He had been warned not to stay for long, lest the dimension become and life lived became his. Yet even so parts of those worlds had imprinted on him. Surely the ENIAC knew of what happened; perhaps that was why he even had to go, to retrieve his memories, or more precise to acquire 'Ryo's' memories, of all of them. The perfect Ryo, the perfect soldier; wouldn't Neo be proud.

"Culu, there you are." Culumon's voice interrupted his train of thought. Usually he was left alone when he came here, but he hadn't seen the excitable child as much as in the beginning, so he could forgive the invasion of his personal space. The beginning, he thought wryly, was a very relative term. Inside the ENIAC only a few days, if that, had gone by. But for him and Monodramon it had been longer, the time spend in the other dimensions did not register as such here. Whenever they went through a portal they were back almost instantaneously from the ENIAC's perspective, no matter how many hours had gone by for him.

"Culumon, come sit with me," Ryo said.

The ENIAC was a machine on Earth and a god here, the father of all digital worlds, but both Ryo and Monodramon needed rest after their incursions in other timelines. It was their weakness that prevented them from fixing the timeline faster. Ryo had seen the ENIAC at work, almost tirelessly, but recently he started to operate slower, as more of his memory was being used to handle the offshoot dimensions. Memory leaks in computer programs eventually cause the program to crash. He wondered what would happen if the ENIAC reached his limits. As hard as they were working, time was running out.

"You don't want to play?" Culumon asked.

Ryo smiled. Life was simple for the young digimon and he was glad for it. It was all a playful adventure. His own existence was far from simple, and the Digital World had stopped being a playful adventure almost from the first time he was attacked. It was still an adventure and a thrill every time he ventured out. But not playful, not after people had gotten hurt, died, not after everyone he trusted had felt it necessary to betray him.

"Not today, Culumon. The ENIAC will want me to fix the timelines again."

"But you do that every day, you should have some fun," Culumon said.

"It's important I do this."

Culumon looked doubtful. As if he didn't believe that Ryo found it important. The boy couldn't blame him for it if he did. Sometimes he did doubt whether what he was doing made a difference. It was reminiscent to the tests he had gone through in Piccolomon's tournament. He wanted to think they had meant something; that the lives of those he had crossed had changed for the better. But digimon had died, friends of his had died. It didn't matter if he had helped people, the purpose of those tests had been to train him, helping others had been a secondary concern.

Things were different here. He wanted to believe that. Unlike Piccolomon and the other Chosen Children the ENIAC had not lied to him about the enemy. Had not lied to him about the nature of his daily journeys, they were needed to manage the order of things but they were also meant to train him. Prepare him for the battle in the future that was drawing near. In order to be their champion he needed the experience of his past. Now that experience had all but completely returned. All but what he needed most, he still couldn't remember anything about fighting Millenniumon. Things that came before, some words spoken, taunts exchanged. Things that came after, Ken screaming in pain, a shadow of a twin-headed dragon, rushing him in a torrent of exploding energies. But nothing of what had transpired in between. There was a big piece of the puzzle missing. Something he had said or done. Something Millenniumon had said or done.

"It's important to have fun too," Culumon said. His tone suggested he could not understand why anyone would need to be told this. "Otherwise you'll lose yourself in what you are doing and that's not good for anyone."

Ryo stared at little Culumon in shock, those were some uncharacteristically wise words from the Child's mouth. Culumon caught his look and blinked in wonder. He reached out and affectionately petted Culumon's head, eliciting content coos. "That's some pretty good advice."

"Papa ENIAC told me once," Culumon said.

A bright streak of lightning, arching down from the dark heavens, as black as the void below Ryo's feet, took the words from his lips. He swung about, rising instantly to his feet, as the bolt struck ground. Neither of them could see it from where they were, the higher pillars blocking all sight, but they could feel the effects of the impact as the crystal pillars shook.

The tremor did not last long, but before it stopped Ryo was already running back to the community. Something like this hadn't happened before, not during his short stay and by the look on Culumon's face not before that either.

Such a bolt of uncontrolled power was not natural, or as natural as anything could be in a digital environment. The ENIAC's a computer in the real world, Ryo knew, even though the image of the first computer, a huge machine, was sometimes hard to link to the glowing ball of light that was the ENIAC's representation in the Digital World. All power that coursed through it was regulated, so to see something of the magnitude of a thunderbolt was very disconcerting. It was like a discharge of static electricity on a motherboard, something from the outside that wreaked havoc on the inside.

"They're here," Ryo said out loud. There was only one possible outside source for the lighting. He didn't speak to anyone in particular. Culumon wasn't able to keep up with his long strides and it was for the better. He ran on, now on top of the rise that overlooked the bluff and sheltered it from prying eyes. The impact site was no longer hidden. An island of tightly knit pillars that jutted out of the void, connected to the main community's columns by a bridge of narrow supports.

* * *

When Ryo reached the island, Monodramon already stood waiting, impatiently, at the end of the narrow walkway leading towards it. The young dragon had clearly reached the same conclusion he had, they were under attack.

"Where have you been?" Monodramon said in exasperation and worry. He had no idea, up till the moment his partner had come running up, where Ryo had been. The dragon had, reluctantly, allowed Ryo the privacy he wanted by letting him seclude himself from time to time during their rest breaks. And only because, with the exception perhaps of suffering a nasty fall, with there was no danger to be found here. He had feared Ryo to be on the peninsula when the blast hit.

Of the flat plateau nothing remained that didn't have a jagged edge, the surface shattered and littered with potholes and crystal shards that reached up like jagged teeth

"Nowhere near here, fortunately," Ryo said, letting his gaze take in the sight before him. "Did you see it happen, any idea what it was?"

Monodramon shook his head. "I saw the flash, but couldn't see what preceded it."

Ryo frowned and considered what the portent could possibly mean. There was no doubt in his mind that the source of it was Millenniumon, but its nature was eluding him. It could've been a long range attack, some form of bombardment to destroy the ENIAC without suffering any risks, either to himself or his subordinates. But that wasn't his style, Ryo believed. Nothing had given him the impression that Millenniumon gave anything for the digimon working for him and if he could've come to the past he would've done so himself.

"He must've sent someone here, like he did when he was trying to access this place," Ryo said.

Monodramon nodded. "That's what I think too."

"We'll need to find out for sure though," Ryo said, trying to discern the best way to proceed. A new wall of crystal shards blocked their immediate passage.

He motioned for Monodramon to find a way to their left while he examined the right side. It didn't take him long to find a gap between the shards, but progressing past it remained difficult. Where parts of the island's columns had risen up, some to towering proportions, other parts had caved in. He stood at such a hole and got his first look of what awaited them behind the blast-forged wall. It was a crater, sloping inward and with a pretty impressive barrier surrounding it. From where he stood Ryo could see few other openings other than the one he found.

"Monodramon, did you find anything?" Ryo called out.

"Nothing." Monodramon's voice reached back to him. "We might have to fly over."

It would've been the easiest way, but the boy thought against it.

"You go," he called back. "I'll see you on the other side."

Carefully Ryo put his back against the upright crystal spike, taking great care not to inadvertently cut his back open should the shard that come from the innards of the island prove sharp. The rough facet certainly looked it, but after a few tries he found that he could put his back against it safely. Still he was careful, his feet only had a small ledge to stand on.

As Ryo inched his way he looked down into the hole, which seemed more like a tunnel than an impact crater. A quick scan showed similar tunnels, of varying sizes, going down into the island's core all over the crater's slopes. One stood out though, a gaping maw at the centre. That was the one, Ryo knew, in which they would have to descend. If something had accompanied the blast, and if it was still alive, it would be found down there.

* * *

"Wut's going on 'ere?" Nanimon said, completely stupefied, standing not far from the column of light that led to his workshop. A small box of odds and ends lay overturned at his feet. Dropping it had been unintentional, but unavoidable, when he had glimpsed the devastated island from the corner of his eye. He had heard nothing of the impact from his workshop, and judging from the lack of attention the smouldering ground was getting neither had anyone else. He took a step towards the land bridge to investigate.

"Stop, Nanimon." The voice of the ENIAC seemed to drift to him out of thin air. A rare occasion, the super computer didn't usually call out to any of them but Monodramon, his assistant. For the most part the community functioned without any contact with their founder.

"ENIAC, sir," Nanimon said. He was still looking only at the shattered landmass. He didn't need to look around for the other speaker, the super computer's manifestation never left his chamber, couldn't leave it in fact. "Som'thin's happenin' sir, shouldn't I go see wut it is?"  
"The matter is already being taken care of," ENIAC's voice said. Though the sphere of light that was the ENIAC's consciousness never left the chamber his spirit wasn't bound to it. He wasn't just the ball of light, not just the chamber, but the entirety of the digital world. He could speak to them all, but he rarely had the need to. "I need you and the others to see me in my chamber; I've another assignment for you. One most urgent, there is little time to waste. Hurry"

"Aye, sir." Unable to hide his discomfort at the super computer's tone, Nanimon spun around and ran, as fast as he could, to the portal leading to the ENIAC's chamber. The requested supplies he was going to take to Nanomon were already forgotten from his mind.

Nanimon had barely left when Culumon floated by, breathing heavily. Though he was tired he wasn't going to rest. "Culu, why is everyone in such a hurry?"

With a sigh Culumon continued his pursuit of Ryo and excitement, hopping from pillar to pillar across the land bridge, hoping to catch up to the boy before everything was all over. He didn't notice the sudden buzz of activity in the commune behind him, as resident after resident left their homes to converge to the main chamber. Not too long ago they had all been called there as well, to be told that Millenniumon was trying to invade.

"Can only be one thin'," Nanimon muttered. Over his shoulder he saw the others coming, showing the same kind of worry he was feeling. They had known this day might come, and now it had. If only it hadn't been this soon. There was so much more that could be done in preparation.

* * *

He stopped in the middle of the passage, a round upward-sloping tunnel that was just one of many in a vast network. Just standing still he took in the silence around him, broken only by the sound of his own breathing. With a gloved hand he stroked the tunnel wall, feeling the rounding through the fabric. It felt solid and cool to the touch, surprising since the tunnel hadn't existed moments before.

Stoically he continued his trek; the nature of the tunnel was of no concern to him. Every step he took sounded muffled without an echo or anything of the kind at all. For an ambush it was the perfect place, and involuntarily a small smirk managed to find its way onto his face. Buy some time indeed, he wasn't going to let a good opportunity just pass him by. He would show his worth.

A large chamber, a nexus of many other passages, awaited him at the end of the tunnel. He looked at all of them, disregarding the ones sloping down, in favour of the ones going up. A hiss caught his attention and a shadow fell over him.

He gestured to the ceiling of the chamber, where his companion could lie in wait without being detected, and watched it fly off, wasp-like wings beating faster than his eyes could follow. Nudging his large shades back on his nose he went for one of the few tunnels that both went up and were accessible.

* * *

Though the light was dim the many tunnels were far from dark and they had little trouble progressing. It had been different often times before, and it was dry, unlike their recent foray into damp sewers. A welcome change.

Though they knew the tunnels were not natural by origin, but formed from impacting energy, they didn't seem like it. They twisted, and they turned, as if dug by some large animal. A mole could've dug these tunnels, if a mole was several meters in size. A Drimogemon then, Ryo thought, but even then they were made to quickly for the mole-like digimon.

"It's hard to believe lightning could make anything like this," Ryo said. "It's almost like water burying down porous material, leaving behind a mess of tunnels."

"That was no water that hit this place," Monodramon said, "How strong does Millenniumon have to be to do this?"

Ryo considered that for a moment. "Very strong, but strength alone will not let him win."

"I hope s-so," Monodramon said. Worry brought out his stutter.

Ryo hoped so as well, and shared his partner's worries, but the boy wasn't going to show Monodramon, or anyone else, his uncertainty. "I know so. I've beaten him before and I'll do it again." Almost as an afterthought he whispered, "And then I can go home."

He thought about going home quite often nowadays, which had come as a surprise. He didn't think of himself as a homebody, and he could remember most of the previous weeks in the digital world, the other digital world. The adventure had been great there, as great as it was now, and he hadn't thought much of going home then. Perhaps it wasn't about going home, but about the people he had left behind. Perhaps it was even more selfish, being freed of the obligations that bound him so tightly. Perhaps he was just too tired. Ryo nodded to himself. That made more sense.

Then Monodramon halted in his step, looking about himself curiously. Wordlessly Ryo stopped after a few more steps as well and turned back to his partner. When the dragon started to sniff the air he didn't need to ask what was disturbing him. Monodramon's nose was more acute than his own, though not as acute as some other species of digimon. Though he knew he wouldn't discover anything Ryo took a few deep breaths as well. Nothing, the air seemed odourless to him.

After the ambush in the sewers below the city of a splinter-reality, where they had lost a friend, they weren't taking any chances though. Perhaps, had Monodramon been paying better attention, the death of Hawkmon could've been avoided. The young dragon had thought so a few times, but had to remind himself that in those putrid quarters there had been no way for him to notice the parasitic bug. He also knew it didn't matter anyway, that reality had been collapsed back into the main timeline as if it had never existed. But what if it had been Ryo who had been killed? Monodramon had no answers, and so he took no chance here.

"What is it?" Ryo asked, his voice subdued. If something was in the tunnels with them he wanted to give whoever it was as few chances to discover them as possible.

"Something strange," Monodramon said. "Faint scent, coming from below, and it's not a digimon."

"Not a digimon?"

A whip cracked against the crystal floor, and Ryo whirled around, taking a few steps back in the process. Holding the whip, and rolling it around in his hands before placing the thing on a hoop attached to his belt, someone distinctly human stood close to a bend in the tunnel some distance away. No wonder they hadn't seen, or heard, him coming until Monodramon started to smell him and he made his own presence known. The dim lighting, enough to see the tunnel's walls by, wasn't enough to see him clearly. Monodramon leapt in front of Ryo, but no further attack came.

"Who are you!" the dragon shouted.

As with another attack no answers were forthcoming. The figure only turned around and started to run away, back to where he came from. A cape, split like the wings of an insect, trailed in his wake. Monodramon glanced back at Ryo to see what his partner wanted to do. A look of surprise showed on his face, one that changed to anger fast.

The cape, it had to be a scarf. And he knew who wore a scarf, though he was supposed to be dead. "Neo!" Ryo growled angrily. Abandoning all caution, he ran after him, going far deeper into the crystal caverns.

"Ah! Ryo, wait!" Monodramon called out after him.

* * *

"Neo!" Ryo shouted, storming headlong into the awaiting chamber. When he did he knew at once that he might've just made a big mistake, in more ways than one. Though at a glance the uniform had looked like Neo's the one he had pursued wasn't him. What he had mistaken for Neo's scarf was actually a two-pronged cape and the dark colouring of the suit wasn't because of the dim lighting, but by being predominately dark blue in colour, not white. He did exhume the arrogance of the white-haired boy, when he had shown his true nature. Spiky blue hair and a pair of yellow-framed sunglasses could not hide his identity, not to Ryo.

"Ken?" Ryo asked, and just in time for Monodramon to hear as he too entered the chamber. The dragon didn't like the looks of the place any more than Ryo did, reeking of an ambush as much as it did. The walls, leading to a dome-like ceiling that was shrouded in shadows, were filled with holes and other passages, like a giant hive.

"Ryo," Monodramon nudged worriedly. But his partner didn't budge, his eyes locked with those hidden behind shades.

"You will address me as Kaiser," Ken demanded imperiously. For someone who was alone he was far too assured. And, whatever he was or wherever Millenniumon had dug him out from, he was a Chosen or at least the image of one.

That was all the warning they needed and were going to get. Ryo and Monodramon both leapt away to opposite sides when a towering hulk slammed hard into the ground, only narrowly avoiding being caught underneath his claws.

Ryo gaped up at it and its mismatch of parts which he had known, only twice, in another configuration. "It can't be, Paildramon?"

"No, this is not the digimon you remember," the Kaiser remarked snidely. "But another possible form where that worm, miserable as he is, is dominant. Who knew it could be so formidable. Dinobeemon!"

* * *

Even before the order had been given Monodramon was already on the move, creating as large a distance between himself and the monstrous Dinobeemon. He hadn't gone far when the behemoth's insect eyes, set in a head that looked like Stingmon's, turned in his direction. Caught again, not far enough away to avoid being attacked or close enough to mount an attack of his own. Not that the latter would do much good, not while he was still in his Child form.

Dinobeemon's four transparent wings began to beat at a wild rate, though the beast himself stayed firmly grounded as the wind swirled around him. Every beat of those wings created a buzzing sound, a sound amplified with every passing moment.

"Irritant Buzz."

Whirling around Monodramon braced himself for what was to come, and not a moment too soon. The winds and the buzzing picked up and came straight for him. Then it was like an invisible wall of blades hit him, picking him up and throwing him back while scraping at his skin. A myriad of cuts appeared on his forearms and his small wings as he tried to protect his vitals.

He did not know how long he could hold out, but almost as soon as it began the relentless wave stopped. Flipping around in midair, he stayed aloft by beating his own wings while ignoring the wounds he had suffered.

All in all they were only minor. Monodramon almost thought himself fortunate, he wasn't hurt as badly as could be and the distance between him and the huge bug had increased a lot. It took less than a second to realize he was wrong. It wasn't some fluke or stroke of good luck. Dinobeemon, already stalking closer, was only toying with him.

* * *

"I don't know why you are here, but it doesn't matter," Ryo said. He had made a mistake in pursuing who he thought was Neo, bringing them in one of the worst possible situations. Dinobeemon, while strong, was not the strongest opponent the two of them had vanquished, but he had gotten to them unprepared, and that might make the difference. Even so, neither he nor his partner was a stranger to surprise attacks. Not needing to think Ryo brought up his D-Arc and a single card.

First order of business, get Monodramon to a more secure position. Ryo started, bringing the two items together. "Card Slash, High Speed Plug-I-"

The Kaiser's whip knocked both out of his hands, leaving a welt on his skin.

"Doesn't matter, does it?" the Kaiser mocked. He glanced down at the fallen device, noting the similarities and dissimilarities to his own. Hidden behind his shades Ryo didn't see the mockery of his old friend's sudden interest. And understanding.

"So that's how you beat all of them who were sent before me, 'high speed' card, was it? You can transfer the properties of those cards to your partner. Without your digivice though, that ability is useless. That is why I am here. The combination of a Chosen and a digimon will always be superior to that of a digimon, or several digimon, alone."

"Are you even a Chosen anymore, Ken?" Ryo grumbled.

Ken answered with his whip, letting it come in low. His aim wasn't for Ryo, but for his weapon. The D-Arc went flying, clattering several times on the crystal floor before coming to stop out of Ryo's reach.

"Without your digivice, are you?" the Kaiser sneered.

* * *

Monodramon's wings flapped furiously, a mere fraction compared to the giant bug's wings, as he went higher in the gloom of the chamber. His opponent followed him up with a speed and grace that belied his large frame. Again the wind and buzz surrounding him picked up, a telltale sign of what was to come. The dragon bared his teeth and snarled in helpless objection. He was starting to lose count of just how many times he had suffered this attack. Then he saw something that might help him.

"Irritant buzz," Dinobeemon hissed.

Though he couldn't see the wind, attacking him like blades, he could hear it approach. Even in the air he had always made himself as small as possible, exposing as little of himself to the painful wind as he could even if it made him fall. Not this time though. Now, Monodramon thought, closing his eyes at the same time as stretching his arms and the wings that were attached to them to their fullest. Like a kite his was caught in the stream. It hurt, but he forced himself to maintain his position. He felt himself moving back fast and he kept that uncontrolled flight for several anxious seconds before flipping around.

Monodramon opened his eyes now that his head was out of the wind's direct path. The wall he was aiming for was much closer than he had thought, but his aim was true. Dinobeemon's attack halted, but the momentum he had built continued to carry him. A moment later he flew through a dark hole, one of the many tunnels that ended in the chamber, and touched down.

He had only set one step in the upward sloping tunnel when the walls shook. Behind him Dinobeemon had dug his claws in the crystal surrounding the tunnel's entrance, his body being too large to fit inside. Nevertheless the young dragon started running, noting with some worry that the tunnel didn't only go up, but it seemed to wind right back towards the large chamber he had just escaped. That would bring him right back into Dinobeemon's clutches.

"It's never easy with you, is it Ryo?" he muttered.

* * *

It pained Ryo to have to stand idly by while Monodramon suffered. At every cry from Dinobeemon's attack, he wanted to check on his partner, to help him in some way. The Kaiser wouldn't just let him get back his digivice and without it there was very little he could do.

Instead he put it out of his mind, looking only at the young man in front of him, trying to find something of the child he remembered inside of him. Ryo found nothing.

"It doesn't have to end this way, you know. I can call Dinobeemon off. All you have to do is join me, and together we can bring much needed order into the world, all worlds. Think of what we can do, the two of us together. No one could stop us," the Kaiser said.

His words ran true to Ryo; in the past he and Ken had done much of what seemed impossible. Together they had beaten foes far stronger than them, and together they surely could conquer the worlds. When he looked at the Kaiser though, all he saw was another youth in uniform who had said much the same thing. This was not the boy he remembered and he found it hard to believe he could ever turn out to be like this. Nevertheless, it somehow had.

There was no temptation. Ryo shook his head. "That'll never happen."

The Kaiser showed no emotion at being refused and it occurred to Ryo that the offer was probably never sincere. He was much like Neo in that respect too, trying to distract him with offers that did hold their fair share of temptation, but could never truly be.

"And I very much doubt Millenniumon would ever let you betray him," Ryo added, managing even a slight grin. This time his opponent let a bit of anger show. "Have I hit a sore spot?"

"Laugh all you want," the Kaiser said, suddenly deceptively calm. "But your partner will soon be dead and when I personally wring the life right out of you I will show even _him_ that my existence is no waste."

"What?"

"You wouldn't understand," the Kaiser said. Sounding both angry and wistful he brought his free hand up to his face, balling it into a fist. For a time he just stared at his own hand. To Ryo it seemed like he was looking at something that wasn't even a part of him.

"Ken," Ryo said, feeling anew his own regrets about leaving his friend behind on his sickbed. He had seen the future, or what could be the future. Would that he had stayed, might that have prevented him from turning out this way?

* * *

The Kaiser almost grinned, watching Ryo's focus weakening out of the corner of his eyes. Lesser intellects were so easily manipulated, and this so-called greatest enemy of Millenniumon, was no different. When Ryo looked in the direction of his closed fist he tightened his grip on the whip's handle, bringing that arm slightly back.

"You ran off on one adventure after another, leaving me behind like I was nothing," he said, drawing upon memories useless to him for anything other than this. Surprisingly the recollections did spark feelings of anger in him.

"That's not what happened," Ryo implored, leaving himself open for just a moment. He took a step forward, his arms held open. The Kaiser struck like lightning, flicking the whip forward like an attacking snake. It went for straight for Ryo's face, a debilitating strike. As he had known it would be the battle was practically over before it could truly begin. Sure he had power, more so than him, but against superior intellect power was insufficient. All those before him had lacked that quality; all but him had and would've continued to have failed.

* * *

Ryo couldn't contain an exclamation of pain. The whip's end was right in front of his eyes, wrapped around his forearm. The grazing blow when he had lost his digivice had stung, but it was nothing compared to this. It was nothing he didn't deserve though, he thought angrily. For a moment he had been caught up the Kaiser's words and he had forgotten that this wasn't Ken, no matter what he looked like.

"What?!" the Kaiser growled angrily. Even with his shades on Ryo knew an incredulous expression when he saw it. He had been distracted but his reflexes were top-notch, trained during his travels since coming to the Digital World of his own reality. It had been close though.

The Kaiser jerked his arm back, and the whip retracted. But only for a moment, then it came on again. Fully prepared this time Ryo dodged its serpentine length and the tip flew harmlessly by.

"Clever," Ryo said, "But then, you were always that."

"Indeed," the Kaiser said in annoyance. Sprinting forward, letting his cape trail after him, he lashed out again.

Too close to avoid it Ryo lashed out with his own arm. Though it would hurt, rather that it hit him there than somewhere else. At about half its length the whip's powerful cord hit his lower arm, eliciting a hiss of contained pain. A hiss that had to be further suppressed with gritted teeth when the other half curved around his arm and body, hitting him on his back.

Reaching back, and abruptly halting his spurt, the Kaiser brought his weapon back to him. Ryo stumbled back, not caring how undignified it would look. His eyes were starting to water from the pain, making the Kaiser grin from ear to ear. He struck once more and again Ryo had no choice but to block it, eliciting the same result when it curved around him, striking his back close to the previous hit. Seldom had he come under such assault, his partners taking the brunt of the attacks for him. How they bared it, time and again, was astonishing. And even now Monodramon was suffering as he led the behemoth away from him. This had to end.

The Kaiser laughed mockingly when the whip came out to strike a third time. Ryo glared fiercely, stepping into the whip's path. When it struck again, hurting more every time, he rolled with it and let it wrap around his arm. Ryo bore with it and grabbed hold of whip's length where it hung past his hand. Now, with the end of it wrapped around his arm and his hand around it, the Kaiser could not retract it. Surprising him again Ryo jerked it hard and succeeded in ripping the handle out of his hands.

"My turn," Ryo said grimly, letting the whip crack. The metallic handle clanged awkwardly when the wrong end of the weapon struck the crystal ground.

"You wouldn't," the Kaiser gasped. He tried gauging Ryo, but saw only sadness and disgust in his eyes. It was as if he was silently telling him that Ken would know the answer to that question, but that he, the Kaiser, was left at his mercy. The Kaiser did not believe in mercy.

Then Ryo struck out, making a strong sweep with the weapon that sent the handle flying at the Kaiser. His former friend raised his arms to shield his face and tried to move away. The handle came close, but just flew past before the slackened cord had reached its end. Startled the Kaiser followed its course, to see the handle land just behind him.

He looked back just in time to see Ryo's fist fly into his face, knocking him to the floor and the glasses of his face. Gingerly touching his nose he drew back to see a red stain at his finger tips. With baleful eyes he looked up at his assailant who wasn't paying him any mind while unwinding the end of the whip from his arm.

"You're right," Ryo said, letting the rest of the Kaiser's weapon fall to the ground, "I wouldn't. Because, I'm a Chosen."

The Kaiser's eyes flashed to the discarded digivice, knowing instantly what Ryo meant, but being unable to stop him from running towards it. If he was allowed to aid his partner things could very quickly turn ugly.

"Dinobeemon! Stop playing around, finish it now!" the Kaiser shouted while scrambling to his feet. He couldn't let Ryo make any more of a mockery of him than he already had.

* * *

The Kaiser called out something, but Monodramon couldn't make out what it was. He understood the gist of it though; there was little else he could've shouted. The dragon sat hunched down with his back against the crystal wall at the end of the tunnel. As he had suspected it had doubled back to the main chamber, ending up somewhere above the entrance.

Dinobeemon was still there, his large body blocking the hole, and he hadn't discovered the other end of it yet. Monodramon sighed; it was only a matter of time before he was found out or forced to take action. At least he and Ryo were mostly out of harm's way now and the few moments of rest were not unwelcome. The longer he could make this last the more time Ryo had in dealing with the other one so they could team up against Dinobeemon together. The other one, the boy, he hoped he hadn't made a mistake in letting Ryo handle him alone. Something was off about him; he didn't smell like a human should.

"I must be mistaken, what else could he be?" Monodramon thought to himself. Dinobeemon had attacked so quickly, he must have gotten the wrong impression. "If not, he's-"

"Irritant Buzz!"

Monodramon leapt to his feet, looking back down the tunnel. He couldn't see it, but he could hear it, a torrent of wind raging through the passage. It would follow the tunnel, wash over him, and blow back into the main chamber. Telling Dinobeemon exactly where he was. No more time for second guessing, he turned around and dove out of the hole.

"Beat Knuckle!" he shouted, letting his claws do the landing on the giant bug's head for him. Ryo had better be ready for him. Furiously he punched the orange compound eyes, but they seemed to be protected by a thin membrane he wasn't able to puncture.

"This, is the limit of your power," Dinobeemon said, speaking for the first time.

"You speak?" Monodramon blurted despite himself. Most digimon could speak of course; he wasn't sure why he found it so odd now.

"Hell Masquerade." In the blink of an eye Dinobeemon disappeared from under Monodramon's feet. The next thing the young dragon knew was a blinding pain and a single after image of the behemoths blue fist. Within moments he was assaulted by more and more after images, never once seeing the blow at the time it hit him. A pained cry escaped him as his body fell apart into small blots of data.

* * *

"Alias!" Ryo called out. At the other end of the chamber his partner's body was dissolving into nothingness.

"I hate seeing that," Monodramon, standing unharmed at Ryo's side, said. "Did you really have to cut it that close?"

"Sorry," Ryo shrugged.

"That's so unfair," the Kaiser said.

Ryo shook his head. "That's the power of a Chosen and his partner. Trust. Something you don't understand anymore. Without it, you are nothing more than the other trespassers Millenniumon sent against us."

"And you'll end up the same way," Monodramon added. He looked up to Ryo and nodded. Nodding back he drew another card from his deck where, between his fingers, it changed into a blue card.

"Dinobeemon, get over here! Destroy them now!" the Kaiser demanded.

"He won't be here in time. Matrix Evolution," Ryo said. With a trained flourish, belying the fact that he had only been doing it for a couple of days, he passed the card through the slot of his D-Arc.

"Monodramon," the young dragon said while his skin peeled away from him.

The Kaiser could see that he was right; his servant wouldn't reach them before the evolution was complete. Still it was only an adult then against a Perfect level digimon. How many thought that before as their dying thoughts, he couldn't help but wonder. But he could still win, as long as he kept Ryo from using those cards of his. He had edged back enough, his hand tightened on the handle of his whip. "You did all of that to get draw away Dinobeemon far enough so your partner can evolve? How, you gave no orders!"

"Trust," Ryo said.

"Evolves to Strike Dramon!" Strike Dramon finished in the face of Dinobeemon compound eyes bearing down on him.

"Hell Masquerade!"

Strike Dramon, barely evolved, instinctively punched for Dinobeemon's face, but he wasn't fast enough. For a second it looked like he had struck dead on, but then his fist went through it, dissipating the after image.

"Aw, hell." He knew this part all too well. A heavy pressure fell against him, pushing back while punches began to rain down on him, leaving only after-images for him to chase after. Ignoring what his eyes were telling him he acted on instinct and managed to block a few of the hits. Nevertheless he was battered when the behemoth finally stopped.

It looked down on him now, solid once more and grounded. Strike Dramon looked past him to his partner for some help.

* * *

The Kaiser gave a roar of rage and charged Ryo, like Dinobeemon had charged his partner. He opened again with a lash of his whip that Ryo sidestepped. At once he released the weapon, which had become useless in close combat. He punched Ryo and got punched back in return, but he pressed on. Tangled together they fell to the ground, with the Kaiser trying to keep Ryo there.

"You won't help him," the Kaiser hissed in anger, reaching for the digivice in Ryo's hands. Ryo rolled over so that he lay on stomach, not trying to get the Kaiser off of him but to keep the D-Arc out of his reach. "And he won't help you."

"No Ken, you're wrong about that too," Ryo said. Large claws landed at his side, and then the Kaiser's weight was pulled off him. Strike Dramon stepped over his partner, throwing the Kaiser away in the same motion. Ryo looked up to see his partner turn to face the stronger of their two foes.

"Hell Masquerade," Dinobeemon raged, infuriated beyond believe at the way his master was treated. The beast disappeared from sight, leaving a blurred after image.

"Card Slash, High Speed plug-in B," Ryo said, slashing the card he had picked from the beginning. Under his face mask Strike Dramon grinned as the attack came upon him, no longer invisible to his eyes. Every after image showed the two digimon, locked in strikes and counters.

"What?" Dinobeemon said when his attacks had stopped and he became visible again. Strike Dramon had parried everything, and looking none the worse for wear because of it. Still grinning, the dragon warrior lunged at the behemoth.

"Your weakness…"

"Card Slash, Mushamon," Ryo called out, alerting his partner to the weapon about to form. The demonic samurai's sword, a weapon that had come through for them before, felt good in Strike Dramon's claws. With his full strength behind it he lopped Dinobeemon's head straight off.

"Is that you can't move right away after your flashy move ends," said Strike Dramon.

* * *

With Dinobeemon gone Ryo now stood over the broken heap of the Kaiser. All he could think about was his real friend, lying in pain on the desert's sand. The sadness he felt wasn't for the Kaiser, but for the boy who had donned the visage he saw now. His partner's throw shouldn't have been fatal, but he was dying nonetheless. Bits and pieces of data, like a digimon's, were floating off his body. It wouldn't take long

"You were right," the Kaiser wheezed, "Millenniumon would never allow me to betray him. I couldn't even if I had wanted to."

"He made you," Ryo surmised.

The Kaiser coughed and his eyes seemed to glaze over. But then he chuckled one more time before his body completely fell apart. "Yes, the prototype. Sent here to make sure you wouldn't move towards him. I bought the time and now you lose."

"He wasn't the real Ken," Strike Dramon said when Ryo continued to watch the now empty spot on the floor.

"I know," Ryo said at last. He nodded to himself determinately and wheeled around on the balls of his feet. Back to the tunnel that would lead them to the surface. The Kaiser was wrong; though they had done what Millenniumon had wanted them to do they hadn't lost yet. And they wouldn't, he wouldn't let that happen. It was time to finish this, time for him to go home. This Ken he had seen, not just here, but in some other realities, he wouldn't let come to pass. He would go back and save his friend as he had always sworn to himself that he would.

"Let's go Strike Dramon," he said.

* * *

Culumon hopped around uncertainly in front of the very large cavern – even more so for him – trying to decide what to do. He was sure that Ryo and Monodramon had gone inside; where else could they have gone? And wherever they went they always had the bests of fun. He really wanted to be there with them. On the other hand, it was really, really, dark down the hole.

"Culu, why does this always happen?"

So he just hopped around, neither one of his impulses stronger than the other, waiting for something. That something came only after a long time, when Culumon had more than used up his limited amount of patience. Already he had stayed longer than he was used to, but the time he would need travelling back on his own might have had something to do with it. Voices came from below.

"Culu, welcome back," Culumon greeted the two when they had rejoined him on the surface.

"What are you doing here?" Strike Dramon demanded at once. Bad enough he had his own partner run off into the deeps but the white ball of sugar was even more prone to get into trouble than Ryo. As hard as that was to believe.

"I've come to play," Culumon answered innocently.

"We really need to talk about your ideas of 'playing' sometimes," Ryo sighed.

A flash of thunder took away all thoughts they might have. Three bolts came down from the dark void above the community, above where the ENIAC had his chamber. Halfway down they all suddenly curved and came together, fusing into an explosion of light. In the blast's wake three large forms descended upon the island of columns.


	35. Abandoned Humanity

**Chapter 34**

"_**Abandoned Humanity"**_

* * *

"So, the Kaiser failed," Millenniumon commented. His tone was one of distraction, as the data of the networks flowed through him. So much information to process and so little time; had the lord of the future a sense of humour he might've found that thought amusing. "And after all his adamant promises, the outcome is still the same."

His red head turned to the side, where a number of vats stood against the wall. Now that the resistance was growing bolder, and the incursions into the past draining his forces, he had them moved from the labs to his throne room. Within his fortress, a complete digital environment, every place was equally suited to maintain their functions. At times he found he enjoyed watching the inhabitants grow – such moments of idle contemplation were fleeting however, especially more recently.

His enemies weren't ready to strike yet, but the moment that they would was approaching. His quest for total dominance was coming to its conclusion, but in turn his hold on the future had never been as vulnerable.

His blue head smirked at the thought. Let the resistance attack, let them destroy his forces, his fortress, it mattered not. They would never be able to beat him and soon they would never have existed in the first place. At long last he'd bring an end to everything. Revenge for what was done to him and a rest from the cacophony of voices. Success had given him a respite, they were more quiet now. Or was that just his imagination?

A Skull Satamon, charged with overseeing the vats, turned around to find his gaze locked with his lord.

"They are ready milord. The data has fully coalesced."

_Insolence. Kill him_. The completion meant his standing forces would again be reduced. The price was a small one though, even if it killed everyone he wouldn't have taken a different road. _Deletion is all they are good for_, he thought, and the voices agreed. "Excellent, the failure at least succeeded in gaining time," Millenniumon said. "Send them forth."

Skull Satamon looked at the fourth vat, set slightly apart from the others, with a look of obvious disdain on his face. "Even him?"

"No, that one will not be required."

Despite himself Skull Satamon sighed in relief, a sign of weakness, but Millenniumon wasn't paying attention enough to do something about it. All programs were weak after all, limited by their coded makeup, unable to transcend their basic functions. Lights on the vats blinked, and the machines gave off warning bleeps as the seals were opened. The green liquid splashed on the ground. The puddles had barely stopped expanding when they started to evaporate at a most volatile rate. Three forms rose to their feet.

"Ryo, prepare yourself. With this, destiny itself will be upon us and all of history shall be in my grasp. We will bring an end to this charade."

* * *

The dragon warrior leapt over the dark void below, touching down easily on the narrow pillars of the winding land-bridge – if you could call the crystals that jutted out of the darkness land. With its twists and turns it would take too long to follow the bridge the way they had when going to the island. Strike Dramon, even carrying both Ryo and Culumon, had an easy time of it. On the last stretch he just ran and kept going into the commune. It was empty, aside from three small figures and three large ones. The small ones were humans, but were they like Ryo, or like the Kaiser?

If his home had been ravaged, like the island, from the strange lightning he wouldn't have had reason to doubt, but aside from some scorch marks everything seemed intact. Through his helmet he glanced to the portal leading to the ENIAC's chamber. Nothing was out of place.

Some distance away still, until they could ascertain just what they were dealing with, he set Ryo on the ground. Culumon hovered between them, tilting his head as he looked at the new arrivals curiously.

Culumon tried to place them and his enthusiasm grew when he figured it out. "Taichi. It's Taichi, Ryo. Look!"

But Ryo did not see the three youths, and their three warrior partners, in quite the same way. Strike Dramon knew, from his partner's stern visage, what he must be thinking.

* * *

Ryo knew who they appeared to be, he had dealt with all of them in some capacity or another countless times. However, Culumon hadn't seen the Kaiser, but he had. And as much as he would welcome their help, if it was genuine, he couldn't trust them. Part of him wondered if he ever could, at least in the case of Taichi. The small child started to go forward, but Ryo held out an arm to stop him. When he spoke it was nothing short of cold. "I see it, Culumon."

"What's wrong?" Taichi asked. "Come further, now that we are here there's no need to fear Millenniumon anymore." The reassurances were somewhat lessened by the dullness of his eyes, his face, his whole expression and body language.

From his side Takato took a single step forward, as if not to startle them. But his gesture of good faith was diminished by the same thing that weakened Taichi's position, the deadness. "That's right, just come to us and your worries will be over."

Sniffing the air Strike Dramon snarled. "Ryo, their smell, it's all wrong. It's the same as the enemy."

"That's what I thought," Ryo said. He looked around, but everything was surprisingly empty. Wryly he thought that it shouldn't have surprised him. Even against all odds he had to fight alone. The Chosen Child, the tamer, the hero, the expendable one. For just a few days he had thought that this time it might have been different, but it was, as always, the same. Then again, he had never needed the help in doing what he needed to do.

Ryo felt a faint smile tug at the corners of his lips as he looked over the three teens. All of them were leaders of their groups, so he knew from the recollections of his own digital world as well as the alternate realities. And they were strong. After learning of the staged tournament he had wondered how he would do in an actual fight against Taichi. Now he could find out; fake or not that War Greymon, in his black armour, was most convincing.

The third of the fake Chosen shook his head. "You should have come to us, it would've been over painlessly then," Daisuke said.

"We are Millenniumon's Chosen. He made us, and as the ultimate programs we are without human weaknesses," Taichi said.

"Friendship and all that drivel," Daisuke added, "are useless qualities in battle. As artificial Tamers we shall prove this to you before you disappear."

"Never to return," Takato finished.

* * *

All three came at him all at once, the black Megalo Growmon in the lead, firing up his afterburners. Strike Dramon also leapt forward to meet them, as much as he'd rather not engage them at all. There really was no choice; he couldn't let them come close to Ryo and Culumon. Above all he had to keep them safe – Ryo especially – if they were to have any hope of winning. But still, with three against one and all of them at a higher level than he was, his charge had a noticeable hesitance.

Megalo Growmon led with the blades of his arms to cut the dragon warrior where he stood. He was caught by surprise when, instead of avoiding them, Strike Dramon caught them both with his claws. The silvers talons were coated with a black sheen and wouldn't budge in their hold. The black cyborg still had his thrusters going; Strike Dramon was going to be bowled over despite stopping the initial attack. With a heave he forced the arms down before leaping up. Using Megalo Growmon's head as a stepping stone he cleared the first enemy as well as making the cyborg crash, claws-first, into the ground.

Behind the black Megalo Growmon the other black versions, of what were supposed to be heroic digimon, stood waiting. The Paildramon fired the guns at his hips; small blue bullets Strike Dramon had no way of avoiding while still descending from his frog leap. With the help of Ryo, he didn't need to. The blackness covering his claws lifted as small drops of water began dripping off the tips. Not even thinking about it the dragon warrior threw a ball of the purest water from his hands, destroying the bullets that came closest to hitting him.

Megalo Growmon snarled, several stray rounds struck his armour and one even left a scratch over his scales. Over the sound Strike Dramon heard Ryo slash another one of his cards. "Hyperspeed."

Strike Dramon's form blurred as he attacked Paildramon, catching him by surprise. In the blink of an eye he was in front of the fusion of dragon and bug, planting an uppercut on the chin. With the head snapped back he punched and kicked several more times. Another power boost from Ryo would finish one of the three.

The extra strength came, but a moment after a black scaled and clawed foot slammed into his side. Strike Dramon fell back hard, looking up into three claws in a black gauntlet intent on skewering him. A bolt of plasma flew over him and another collided with Black War Greymon's back. Strike Dramon looked over to Megalo Growmon; the cyborg had come upon the same idea as Taichi's sworn partner, to keep him from killing Paildramon. Just a fraction too late.

The Ultimate stumbled from it; the dramon killers on his arm hit the crystal ground instead. Flat on his back Strike Dramon kicked out with both feet, glad for the power boost that now allowed him to propel Black War Greymon back. Flipping back to his feet he immediately had to shove away a spike, attached to Paildramon's gauntlet by a strong cable, coming for his head.

Grabbing the cable in front of his face Strike Dramon gave it several whirls before launching it and the spike back to Paildramon. When Megalo Growmon tried to slash him apart again. Ryo's quick card slashing gave the dragon warrior a fresh burst of speed to dodge the blades and get behind the cyborg.

He looked at the other two, seeing that Paildramon had recovered from having his weapon thrown back at him, and was already aiming his two guns. With Megalo Growmon between them he couldn't fire though. But Black War Greymon, whom Strike Dramon had reason to fear most with his Dramon Destroyers, wasn't making any move.

"This isn't working," Taichi said, "You're only in each others' way. Black War Greymon, take care of the upstart champion." He looked at the other two youths with him. "You two, do what we came for."

* * *

Naomi sat on a wooden stool, which looked to all appearances like a tree stump, within a vast hall. If someone would ever have made a room inside a tree, this is what it would look like she imagined. It would have to be a tree of gigantic proportions though, which she knew it wasn't.

She was not alone, other Chosen like her sat around the chamber in small groups. It was the first time in a very long time – before Naomi had even joined them – when all the small resistance factions had gathered in this fashion. Some muttered amongst themselves, but all were listening to the speaker at the far end. Hikari had a compelling voice and she was revealing a most daring plan, one that if successful would be well worth the risk in coming here.

"Millenniumon's standing forces have been diminishing for some time. He has been clever in hiding it, but not clever enough." Hikari looked all of them over. "Outward appearances aside we've received word from within that the fortress is almost completely empty, even though there have been no lapses in the numbers of patrols."

Hikari smiled, though Naomi was still uneasy. She'd follow Hikari to the ends of the Earth and into the lion's den, which she realized she would be doing shortly. She would do this not only because the young woman was one of the original Chosen, nor their group's leader, but because she had become the family she had lost. That didn't mean she was not afraid. Raids against the oppressor's forces were one thing, but challenging him directly had seemed inconceivable for as long as she could remember. Now Hikari proposed to change all of that.

"He is hatching a plot that will destroy us all, but by doing this he has also made himself weak, weaker than he has ever been. There has never been a better moment to end his tyranny, but there also has never been a moment where we had this much to lose. If we don't strike, he will win by default. After everything we have endured, we can't let this opportunity slip."

Naomi knew Hikari was right, she too had considered many different strategies, but they all amounted to the same thing. If they didn't go now they might never get a better chance. A warm hand suddenly squeezed hers, and Naomi looked aside into Kazuya's smiling face.

"Don't worry, things will be fine," he whispered to her.

So much for thinking she was holding her composure. He never seemed to have any trouble reading her. With her free hand she pushed the glasses she wore further back on her nose, giving him the sternest look she could manage. He didn't flinch, but he did slowly retreat his hand from hers.

"Our time has come and we will finish this, today!" Hikari was saying, as she was getting ready to detail the final plan to them. From the looks of things no one was going to raise objections.

On a sudden impulse Naomi grasped Kazuya's retreating hand in hers. She couldn't help but think she might never be able to do so again.

* * *

Strike Dramon gave a mighty roar, splitting the near-silence that always seemed to permeate the world of the ENIAC. The dragon warrior rushed to meet the charge of the Black War Greymon, the only one of the three enemy digimon to come at him this time. Black claws rose up to meet him, but the dragon warrior vanished in a burst of speed, only to appear behind the charging Ultimate. It was good to know Ryo was continually watching his back.

Aided by the increase in his speed he launched a flurry of punches at the War Greymon's back, each hit clanging loudly against the split shield on his back, but otherwise not really making an impression. The difference in power was still too big, even with all the data he had absorbed from the continued battles across the dimensions.

Black War Greymon rolled around and struck at him with his claws again forcing Strike Dramon, using the last of his added speed, to leap away from him. Behind his opponent Strike Dramon watched Ryo yank another card from its holster and he knew he would need the help, and soon. This was the first time they were up against so many of Millenniumon's agents, using card after card. But they had their backs against the wall.

"Look out, they're coming," Culumon called out. Strike Dramon made as to leap again, twisting around slightly to glance at the other two digimon. They were on the move as Culumon had said, each in a different direction. What are they doing? He wondered, before he realized their objective. The glowing beams that led to the houses of his friends and the ENIAC.

A new glow then caught his attention; fire of a dark orange colouration was growing in Black War Greymon's hands.

* * *

Black Megalo Growmon hovered in front of the pillar of light, held aloft by his twin thrusters on his back.

"Destroy it, let it all disappear," Takato called out to him. The boy hadn't moved from their entry spot yet. He had no need to; it was his larger counterpart that had to do all the work.

The cyborg didn't need further prompting and charged up his twin-mounted cannons. When he fired the bolts started to fizzle out when they came in contact with the light. At the same time the beam's coherence became jagged, dissolving in parts to static. All of that lasted until the cyborg's blasts had completely dissipated, leaving behind a pillar that appeared no different than before.

Black Megalo Growmon wasn't going to be dissuaded by this. With feral intensity he slashed through the light with the blades on his arms, getting the same result; when he was through the beam stabilized itself. But all that meant was that he shouldn't give it the time to restore itself.

The cyborg roared a ferocious battle cry. The cannons discharged a second time, powering up almost immediately after. At the same time he sliced the pillar of light again, and again. With every stroke the imbalance in the beam became greater, worsening even more with each successive energy blast.

Takato's visage lit up in glee when the beam of light blew up into small particles under the continued barrage of his counterpart. Before the cyborg could stop swiping, hitting nothing but air, a tremor shook the foundation of the crystal commune. Moments later the ground shook again when Paildramon destroyed another of the beams of light. Neither it seemed had been the ENIAC's domain.

"Destroy the next one!" Daisuke called out.

* * *

The enormous ball of fire shot towards Strike Dramon, leaving behind a scorched trail where the bottom almost hit the ground. Its heat seemed far greater than mere fire, perhaps even as hot as molten magma. The dragon warrior braced himself for its impact, though he would much rather be dodging it. He had the time to do so and would have if the ball's trajectory wasn't dead on to another portal. They couldn't afford to lose any more, with each failure the odds of hitting the right one increased. And if they believed this one was worth protecting over the others it would only help in getting more time.

The glow of the fire was nearly upon him when a cooler blue shone briefly in front of him. At once the warrior raised the Aegis shield. Even with all his experience Strike Dramon was surprised by the power of the impacting sphere and he had to push against it with all his might to keep himself from slipping back. He had to hold on or he'd be pushed back into the portal. If he passed through it, and the fireball destroyed it right after, he would die right along with the collapsed chamber it let to. He knew how it worked, without the portal to anchor it the chamber itself would not exist. Eternal limbo was not a fate the dragon warrior was aspiring to.

"Won't let this beat me," he hissed. The heat was almost unbearable.

"Strike Dramon, hang on for just a few moments more!" Ryo shouted to him.

"What good would that do?" Black War Greymon asked.

"Just wait and see," Ryo said. He had barely finished speaking when the fireball was disintegrated by a pure white beam of energy coursing through it. From the shield of the Royal Knight it was upon Black War Greymon before the Ultimate could even consider evading its splendour. Purely on instinct he slammed both halves of his Brave Shield in front of him at the moment it impacted. The continuous beam was forcing him back, even as he dug in his claws. He could feel the shield begin to buckle before it shattered into black fragments. The stream of energy washed over him, scorching him, and, had his armour not been black from the start, it would've become so now.

As quickly as it had come the light disappeared and the Aegis broke apart just like the Brave Shield. The only difference was that Black War Greymon was breathing heavily and seemed momentarily dazed. Strike Dramon took the opportunity that presented itself to charge. Beaten as he was Strike Dramon would still need something stronger than just his claws to penetrate even the scorched armour to destroy the Ultimate.

Ryo was quick to oblige him. "Now face the power of courage and friendship that you've scorned. Card Slash, Omega Blade!"

The holy white sword formed between his claws while Strike Dramon charged. Holding the power of Omegamon the sword of courage and friendship surpassed the powers of the beings that had joined to create it. With this blade the dragon warrior was sure he could defeat all three corrupted warriors and save his home.

Too late he noticed that his steps weren't as firm as they had been or that his shoulders were slumping in exhaustion. In the heat of battle he failed to recognize the strain in himself. The sword was still glowing at the point where it should've materialized fully. Strike Dramon managed one more step toward his foe when the sword shattered in his claws and he screamed in pain.

"M-my limit," Strike Dramon gasped. Dropping to his knees, unable to move, he could only watch as the roles were reversed. Black War Greymon approached with steadfast strides.

"I was going to kill you right away for getting in our way," Black War Greymon said. He brought the claws of his left gauntlet to rest on the dragon warrior's throat. Had Strike Dramon gulped he would've cut himself upon them. To Strike Dramon's surprise Black War Greymon did not push on. Instead he retracted. Strike Dramon led out a sudden grunt, the air in his lungs were violently and abruptly forced from his lungs. He was held in a vice grip and whirled around to face the other two digimon on their rampage. "But now, I'll let you live a little while longer so you can watch as your home and everything you care for are destroyed."

Strike Dramon could barely move his limbs, his muscles felt like lead weights, but still he tried to struggle free. From the snigger he drew from his captor he knew that Black War Greymon knew the reason for his increased agitation.

Then Black Megalo Growmon ploughed through another beam of light, one of the last. Like the others it fell apart and the ground started to shake. Unlike the others this time it lasted. The two other portals started to blink on and off and then it was all over. The lights were gone and the tremors stopped. Just like that, it was over.

An incorporeal voice spoke the words that chilled Strike Dramon to the core. "CRITICAL SYSTEM FAILURE. SHUTTING DOWN."

* * *

Glass coated in green fluid flew everywhere as the vat exploded. Its occupant glared at the two beings in the throne room with ice cold eyes. Vapour flew from his uniform where the fluid had stuck to. He did not need to rise to his feet, he had never stumbled, unlike the artificial tamers decanted before him. Under his glare, despite him being human, the Skull Satamon that had been in charge of maintaining the now awakened occupant backed off. The youth disregarded him instantly.

"Quite an entrance," Millenniumon said.

"You were going to leave me in there."

"You are redundant, the ENIAC has been destroyed by my artificial tamers and lo, the moment of triumph is upon us. Your accomplishments up till now have become meaningless in the face of ultimate victory." Millenniumon reached out with his spirit, being both present in his throne room as well as coursing through the networks. Reaching for the past and the source of everything. Though he hadn't been able to physically feel anything since his original body had been destroyed, existing first as an imprisoned spirit within crystal and later as a full digital spirit, he could feel it now. Just a little further.

Millenniumon screamed out as arcs of power shot through him and his essence was forced back into the future.

The youth smirked wickedly. "Are you sure about that? It doesn't seem like you're winning from where I'm standing. So much for putting your faith in toy soldiers."

* * *

"No!" Culumon screamed. The heart-wrenched cry echoed over the commune and the dark void. Even he understood what had just happened. The symbol of triangles on his forehead started glowing with its own light, a glow that was reciprocated by Ryo's deck of cards.

Ryo drew one of his cards, not even looking at what it was. The change came quickly, starting at the edges working inward, until the card was blue. Before that Ryo had already started slashing it. "Strike Dramon, break free!"

Strike Dramon roared out of rage, ignoring the discomfort of having his skin peel off. His body changed and strength surged back into his muscles. Armour formed around every piece of his new form and red wings erupted from his back.

Where Strike Dramon had failed Cyber Dramon pushed away the arms that held him. With their victory Black War Greymon's attention had momentarily lapsed, and that was all the dragon needed. He whirled on the Ultimate and brought his claws to its helmet, bearing down on it. Black and green tinted energy formed around his claws as the helmet began to buckle. Bearing up against him, Cyber Dramon could feel Black War Greymon tremble and bring up his gauntleted claws.

"Enough of this," Black War Greymon grunted. He began to bring up his weapon to simply skewer the dragon that was corroding his helmet, when all of the power in Cyber Dramon's claws burst out. The Ultimate's strike stalled now that there was no head to drive his muscles.

The Ultimate's body disintegrated moments after, the fragments flowing into Cyber Dramon's body, recharging the reserves that had taken quite a beating. Taichi screamed as, just like with the Kaiser, he died along with his partner. His remains were left to dissipate into the empty void at the beginning of time.

Cyber Dramon touched down and let out a sigh, appearing totally dejected. The dragon seemed oblivious to the remaining enemies that were still around. He made a sitting duck, but Megalo Growmon and Paildramon didn't capitulate on his weakness. They hardly made a move at all now that they had done what they came for.

"Cyber Dramon, this is our chance. We have to destroy them now!" Ryo ordered.

"What would be the point?" Cyber Dramon asked, though there was no real drive behind the question. He wasn't interested in the answer, he had already given up. "Father is gone, it's all over."

"No, I refuse to accept that. If that were true we wouldn't still be standing here. Millenniumon isn't here yet, he's still to go to the past. When he comes here there's still a shot at defeating him, but not if his lackeys are still around."

"Ryo…" Despite his dejections Cyber Dramon was impressed with Ryo's tenacity. He had been quiet at first, due to his memory loss. He had seemed inexperienced, he had seemed closed off. But at times when the going had truly become tough, as it had many times, though never as much as this, he livened up and became the hero Cyber Dramon had imagined him to be from his Father's accounts. Whatever happened, Ryo never gave up.

"I have never lost before and I'm not about to do so now!" Ryo exclaimed.

* * *

"This can't be. Without power the ENIAC shouldn't have been able to throw me back. History should've altered freely, my every whim obeyed," Millenniumon said.

"But nothing has changed," Skull Satamon whispered. The throne room, the empty vats, the destroyed canister, the castle and the world, it was all still there.

Newly released he walked around the chamber unconcerned, taking in every detail of the throne room. His eyes could see the flow of data through the walls, the pillars and floor. And Millenniumon's throne was a veritable nexus of power. What he saw pressed on to him like an avalanche. He briefly closed his eyes, forcing himself not to see. When he opened them everything looked as it should, from a human standpoint.

"Forget about your pet Tamers, they failed." He snorted. "That's what you get for relying on second rates. But now that I'm here, belated as it is, your worries can come to an end. Without me you would never have come this far and without me you will never win. Now that I'm here I'll take care of Akiyama."

"Hold your tongue," Skull Satamon hissed. "That's no way to speak to our Lord."

Millenniumon, prone to destroying even the smallest voice of dissent, hardly acknowledged the exchange. "You assume wrongly. They did not fail, the spike and sudden drop in the ENIAC's power was unmistakable. This is impossible, unless…the rumour is true."

"Rumour?"

* * *

"There's a rumour that the ENIAC isn't truly the first computer. Hidden in the past there is in existence another. It would be able to prevent my ascent; none of my probes have targeted it." Millenniumon said. A smirk formed on his draconic lips. Again his spirit dove into the networks, probing the many pathways without delving to deep. With this he would not incur the defences set against him. "Yes, it's there. The small world within the shadows of the ENIAC."

Probing a little deeper Millenniumon became aware of the resisting presence. Any more and it would respond. Instead his spirit held his ground and focused on three distinct signals. He found only two. "Go forth my Tamers. Destroy the one thing standing against me."

The Tamer shook his head. "They'll still fail you know."

"I've had about enough of you." In a moment of rare bravery Skull Satamon approached the boy, towering over him with his skeletal body. Fear would've been a natural response, but the boy hardly seemed to notice.

A sudden tremor, an earthquake possibly, shook the castle. The impact of a high-yield blast of power was unmistakable.

"The resistance," Skull Satamon said, looking in the direction the blast had originated. "The defences must be rallied."

"Forget them. Better yet, forget everything." A cold light shone deeply in the Tamer's eyes. Skull Satamon whirled on him to see a dark egg-shape device in the boy's hand. In a split second the digivice was pressed against his bones and arcs of dark energy pulsed through him. When the boy let off there was no trace of Skull Satamon's spirit left in his eyes. The skeletal digimon had become as mindless as his decayed physique implied.

"Send your toys, by all means, but send us as well."

* * *

The apathy of Millenniumon's tamers evaporated before Ryo could bolster Cyber Dramon's spirit enough. With active thrusters and hybrid wings the two dark digimon scooped up their human counterparts and, without warning or hostility, shot off over the void.

"Where are they going?" Ryo wondered.

"Ryo…Ryo."

"Father!" Cyber Dramon exclaimed. Though the incorporeal voice was weak it was definitely the ENIAC.

"You must go to the Atanasoff, there's very little time left," the ENIAC said. "Millenniumon has made a mistake. History refers to me as the first computer, and the source of the Digital World, and that's what he based himself on. However, history isn't correct. Another was made at the same time as I was, the Atanasoff-Berry Computer. He is my shadow and has been protecting the Digital World. Without him Millenniumon would've already been here long ago."  
Ryo looked out over the void, and the one burning dot he could see against the darkness. The cyborg dinosaur was using his afterburners and that marked his trail. "So that's where they are going."

"Yes, you must hurry. If the Atanasoff is unprotected when they come, it will truly be over."

"Understood," Ryo said. He broke into a run, taking Culumon in his hands as he went. He didn't want to take the child with him, but leaving him alone in the dark commune was even more out of the question. "Cyber Dramon!"

The dragon, revitalized by the supercomputer's survival, sprinted after him. With a few bounds he leapt in the air as Ryo went over the side of the crystal columns. Cyber Dramon went down after him, catching the falling Chosen on his back. All three were soon racing after the two dark digimon.

Ryo sat on knees in between his partner's red wings, holding on to an armoured shoulder with one hand and keeping Culumon close with the other. He peered into the darkness, trying to assess if and how fast they were gaining on the others. Not nearly fast enough, he reasoned. "We'll need more speed if we are to catch them. Cyber Dramon, do you think you can handle a card?"

"Right now, I can handle anything," Cyber Dramon replied.

Ryo nodded, finding a right card on touch. It was difficult holding on to Cyber Dramon and Culumon at the same time, but somehow he managed. "Card Slash, Hyperspeed."

When Cyber Dramon's speed more than doubled Ryo hugged his partner's back with all he had, nearly squeezing Culumon in between them. The child squealed out of excitement. Climbing a bit higher on his partner's back the young digimon looked past Cyber Dramon's head.

Ryo had to squint as his eyes were tearing up from the violently powerful draft. It was a stark reminder of why he didn't much like to fly, and this was by far the fastest he had ever flown. Airdramon came nowhere near this.

The glow of the afterburners came closer when Ryo noticed something amiss. "Where is the other one?" He tried to make himself heard over the wind.

A rain of bullets descended upon them, forcing Cyber Dramon to veer away to avoid the danger they posed. Not so much for himself as for his two passengers.

"Hold on," Cyber Dramon said. Rolling around, he flew up as Paildramon came down, bullets streaking down before him. The dragon caught them on his forearms, ignoring their sting. Only a low growl from back down his throat showed his discomfort. A few of the bolts were still stuck in the armour, fizzing with blue smoke as the charged projectiles cooled.

Dark-green energy formed around the dragon's claw, the same that had cut through Black War Greymon's body. He lashed out when the two digimon past each other, one up and one down. He missed and all the while the glow of Megalo Growmon was moving away fast.

"Ignore him," Ryo shouted when a new rain of bullets crossed their path. But Paildramon wasn't going to be ignored. The speed wasn't going to last, they couldn't keep dodging as easily forever. Now Paildramon was flying up at them, not able to catch up until Cyber Dramon slowed.

The dragon stalled in his flight, and then simply stopped to hover, keeping his back as far away from Paildramon as possible.

"I'm going to charge him," Cyber Dramon said.

"No, wait, stay where you are," Ryo ordered. The dragon-bug hybrid was nearly upon them. "Card Slash, Ruler of the Night!"

The immediate air around them became black as night, though against the dark backdrop it simply seemed as if the dragon and his two riders became invisible. Paildramon paid it no heed and plunged into the dark field headlong. He struck out with the spikes on his gauntlets in the location he remembered them to be. Moments later he emerged from the darkness on the other side; minus his arms.

"W-what?" Daisuke gasped. Like Ryo he was clutching his partner's back. Paildramon was struck silent from shock, only able to release a pained gurgle. They had not seen Ryo slash a second card in the darkness.

Two silver lances broke through the area of concealment, thrown with such force that they easily caught up to Paildramon. Keen edged they skewered him as easily as they had severed his arms.

Cyber Dramon flew out of the darkness, back in pursuit of Megalo Growmon, not waiting or even watching the second of their foes die.

A mass of land, the same kind of crystal pillars that had made ENIAC's commune, appeared on the horizon. Something was different about it though, not drawing attention to itself, but not as dead as the place they had just left. The cyborg would arrive before them.

"Are you all right?" Ryo asked. Megalo Growmon had to be stopped, no question, but Ryo had not forgotten his partner had already reached his limit once and though he had evolved he still had to be close. Falling into the void, even if it was to stop the cyborg, wasn't an option.

"I'm fine," Cyber Dramon replied.

"We're too far, you're going to have to shoot him," Ryo said.

Cyber Dramon shook his head. "One shot won't kill Megalo Growmon, and that's all we're going to get before he starts evading whatever we throw at them."

"You misunderstand, I'm not asking you to shoot that one," Ryo answered grimly. "They are linked remember?"

"But…"

"Do it. Remember what they are, what they did, and what they plan to do," Ryo said mercilessly, grabbing two select cards. "Combo Card Slash. Aurvandil's Arrow. High Andromon."

Two beams, of red and blue, spiralled away to fuse into a narrow ray, accuracy enhanced by the first card in the combo. It existed only for an instant, leaving behind an afterimage where it seemed burned on their retinas. Such an attack would do little of significance to Megalo Growmon, protected by his metallic body. His rider had no such protection, and it went through the back of his head to the front like a knife through butter. No gurgle, no cries, the artificial Takato disintegrated when his life left him. The cyborg didn't seem to notice, not even when his tail fell off in flight, or his arms fell apart. And then he too was simply gone.

The remainder of the flight was decidedly less hurried, yet the ground soon appeared below them as if they had gone as fast as they could. With gentleness that seemed foreign to the armoured dragon's appearance Cyber Dramon put Ryo and Culumon on solid ground.

"We made it!" Culumon fluttered about enthusiastically.

"Nail Bone!" A stream of needle-like shards of bone, filled with debilitating energy, shot into Cyber Dramon's body, making him scream out in pain. He shone with a soft glow that blurred his features, and decreased his size. When Monodramon fell on the ground Ryo was right next to him in an instance, glaring daggers at the skeletal assailant and the very familiar figure standing next to him.

"We made it indeed," Neo grinned.

* * *

"Well, aren't you going to greet me, old friend?" Neo stood with extreme confidence, the epitome of a leader. Just looking at him you knew that if he had a force to lead it could do great good or terrible evil. The time he had led a force of digimon and he had chosen to do the latter.

Ryo recalled the revelation Neo had sprung on him during their last encounter. It flitted about in his mind, an incongruent scene. A hilltop of rubble, death and decay all around them as his friends – betrayers – had fallen. His partner fought and another, a demonic female digimon, had intercepted Neo's demonic servant.

Leaving the two alone, Neo had proudly admitted to having been behind most of the attacks on his life. And more than that; he had used innocents to do so. He remembered all of that now, and much stronger than when he had seen the other Neo in the alternate reality. Back then he knew he wasn't looking at the traitor he knew. This time it was different. He remembered clearly too how their encounter had ended. He had seen him fall, presumably to his death, though at the time there had been no opportunity to ascertain that. Apparently he had been wrong.

"Haven't we already said everything there was to say?" Ryo replied coldly. One thing Neo was incredibly good at was his uncanny ability to use people as pawns to weaken his enemies. The artificial tamers had served as just that. Monodramon was exhausted, depriving him of his ability to use the cards.

"So true, so true. Die now," Neo carelessly waved them off. His companion levelled his accursed staff at both Ryo and Monodramon. Inside the wan sphere a glow started to dance around, the spiritual energy was needed to manifest the bones of the damned that had already gotten to Cyber Dramon.

Skull Satamon lurched slightly forward and, with a heavy clank, the crystal ball hit the ground. Discharging the energy harmlessly the staff once again became inert. The skeleton tried to lift it, but amazingly muscled arms held it down.

"'ere, what tis be now?" Nanimon said. The muscles on his arms bulged as he tried to offset the power of the undead. "S'mmit foul an' smelly like."

Skull Satamon started to straighten along with his staff, even if he had to drag the muscle-bound deformity with him. Then red missiles, each grinning with a madcap smile, exploded against his back and he stumbled once more. Nanimon was right there to keep his weapon pinned to the ground where it was useless. Neo scowled, turning slightly to look at the android behind them.

"You are in violation, withdraw at once and you won't be harmed," Nanomon said. His mechanic appendages were still aimed at the undead's back. A new barrage of missiles was at his beck and call and ready to shoot the moment Skull Satamon, or his human compatriot, made an untoward move.

"I can't believe it, you guys are still alive?" Ryo said.

A penguin with a green bush growing on her back answered. "Yes. ENIAC realized what was going to happen and had us come here."

"A futile gesture," Neo said dismissively.

"Don't be so hasty. Kids these days, don't you know what you are doing? You are a Chosen, act like one." Neo ignored the admonition from the fourth member of the ENIAC's defenders. The foursome, only a portion of the commune's inhabitants, would have stood little chance against the three dark digimon.

Ryo was glad now the supercomputer had anticipated this and sent them off, despite what the lack of defences had meant for him. He realized he had been wrong to think the ENIAC was only using him as an expendable puppet; after all he had sent his own digimon away but stayed behind himself. He had to have known he was going to be defeated there.

The situation here was different; Neo had only brought one digimon back into the past with him and now stood outnumbered. Yet surrendering was not part of his vocabulary.

"Skull Satamon, destroy them all!" Neo ordered. The undead soldier groaned, the only sound to show that he understood his orders. His form blurred shooting up in the dark sky and Nanimon fell down unceremoniously pulling down on nothing. At the same time Neo ran off. The white-haired Chosen ran past Jijimon, barely avoiding knocking into him. The old man made no move to stop him; in fact he seemed remarkably passive about everything.

Ryo reacted instantly and ran after Neo. "Take him down guys, Neo is mine!"

* * *

Nanomon's red missiles shot up. With preternatural speed the undead creature dove back down, slamming his staff hard against the ground. He had been aiming for Nanimon, but the muscled fighter's instincts had saved him just in time. Skull Satamon whirled the staff in his hands, striking Nanimon with the bud in his back.

Nanimon cursed and fell down. In seconds he was rising back to his feet, only to see the crystal atop the undead's staff streaking for his sun-glasses. The gleam of unholy energy reflected inside the yellow sphere.

A new barrage of missiles was thrown by Nanomon, and this time they made their impact on Skull Satamon's back. The undead missed a step, allowing Nanimon to punch the staff slightly off course. A few stray hairs off of the muscled digimon's beard were all it managed to get.

"Oi, divn't need a shave yet," Nanimon said. The fighter jumped and grabbed hold of Skull Satamon's torso in an attempt to hold him in place. Nanimon knew the limitations of his strength, that even after all his training he had little that could damage the undead soldier. But he could hold him into place, perhaps long enough for the others to make their moves.

The community's mechanic grabbed Skull Satamon's upper arms, his own had elongated through their sturdy cable-like physique. Nanomon himself had not moved from his spot.

"Now, while we've got him occupied!" he shouted.

Deramon, the regal penguin, responded. With lightning fast speed she pecked the elbow joint of the skeleton's arm until, with a nauseating snap, it broke. The arm fell away, breaking apart into small black fragments almost instantly.

Skull Satamon gave no sign that he was even aware of the injury. He swung his staff around, knocking Nanimon away from him and on his butt. He then clipped Deramon's chin, and she fell as well. Though Nanimon tried awkwardly to catch her he was unable to do so.

Twirling the staff in large circles the cables that were Nanomon's arms were wrapped around its length, forcing the mechanic to loosen his grip. Heaving the undead soldier lurched Nanomon off the ground and with a high swing threw him towards the void.

Nanomon screamed, though luckily for him the mighty hurl was cut slightly short by the cables still around the staff. While they unhooked themselves his velocity dropped and he landed near the edge and not over it.

"Durnit, old man, do som'thin!" Nanimon shouted.

"Ho ho ho," Jijimon chuckled, raising his cane, adorned with a large cat paw, before tapping the ground with its end. "Hang on Death."

Skull Satamon froze, letting out the loudest moan so far. After losing his arm it finally seemed that something was able to affect his undead body. His wings started to shrivel; the red bones became dull and started to splinter. Every ounce of vitality drained out of him. The evil that had dictated his heart was now becoming his death.

* * *

Ryo ran after Neo nearly as fast as his legs could carry him, keeping his pace fast but not so much that he would tire prematurely. Was Neo always this fast? He couldn't remember ever seeing his enemy run, but at their fight in the ruined coliseum he fought at about the same level he did.

Right now Neo was getting away from him without breaking a sweat, until he seemed to draw him in again. He's leading me on, Ryo thought. But that was fine, he'd bite. The chase ended on a rise overlooking the void where Neo turned and waited.

"You don't want to run any further?" Ryo asked.

Neo shook his head and gave a cocky smile. "No, this is far enough. We can have our moment here undisturbed." Ryo had seen the same kind of arrogance in others before, but this guy was one of the rare ones he believed actually pulled it off right. If he wasn't careful, Neo would kill him. "I've waited so long for this and every time we were disturbed. Not anymore."

"I'm not going to go easy on you Neo," Ryo said.

"I understand completely, we've moved beyond that stage. You made that perfectly clear when you pushed me off that rubble."

"Only one of us will be leaving this place alive. You'll pay for your crimes."

Neo grinned. "Then come at me."

Ryo did, aiming a punch right at his opponent's head. He drew upon all the hurt, all the pain he had suffered because of this traitor and let it fuel his strike. Much to his surprise he connected with Neo's cheek and the other boy's head snapped to the side. So straightforward an attack should've been blocked, instead Neo smirked, leering down at him from the corner of his eye. He seemed to be barely fazed by what was by far not a weak punch.

"My turn." Neo said. Ryo barely saw it coming and then he was doubled over, clutching his stomach. Neo touched his forehead gingerly with his fingertips and pushed so Ryo keeled over. It was inhuman, Ryo thought, looking up from the ground.

An unearthly wail drew both of their attentions to the other fight. "What is that?" Ryo asked, forgetting for a moment just who he was with.

Nevertheless Neo obliged his enemy. "The old digimon just tried to age Skull Satamon to death, or at least to weaken him off for the others." He grinned. "But he's undead and the undead only become stronger with age. Right now, Skull Satamon is very old."

* * *

Green lichfire burned brightly in the sockets of Skull Satamon's ashen skull. His body resembled a human-shaped shadow more than a skeleton. What hadn't changed was his staff or the fact he still had one arm remaining. The lack of an arm didn't make him any less dangerous and his terrifying presence more than made up for it.

"Oh dear," Jijimon said, staring into the green flames and reading only his own death there.

Skull Satamon, or the being that had been a Skull Satamon, ignored the old man. With his incredible speed he lunged at the fallen pair, Nanimon and Deramon, before they could move against him again. Easy prey they'd be able to stifle his hunger for life, for a few moments at the very least, so he could take his time with the old Ultimate. In age they were now close and knowing only that with age came power, whether or not the same held for species other than the undead, the old digimon was the only one whom he could respect. With him he wanted to take his time and savour the experience.

There was a part of him that believed he had once known the answer, when life was something to be studied and used – before the master who had bound him. Yes, there had been more to him than mindless killing and feeding on life. But that was behind him now. He hated life, hated his master. How good it would be, to eat him too.

Jijimon waved his staff over the ground. Before the pair a wall of earth erupted from the ground, abruptly stopping the wraith's approach. As incorporeal as he appeared the ability to move through solid ground was as yet beyond him.

"Emergency, we need back-up!" Nanomon whispered urgently.

* * *

"Roger that, Nanomon." A gruff and decidedly authoritarian voice said. Brushing his mane to the side Leomon looked at his two companions. Within the waiting chamber, dark aside from two light sources, the lion knew their time had come. Despite what the viewing screen, with its light blue hue, showed he felt his purpose rekindled. "Let's go, it's time to do our job."

On his companions he saw differing opinions. Meramon, his fire by far the strongest source of light, seemed ready. Their diminutive companion on the other hand did not look quite so gung-ho.

"How can we even fight that?" Penmon said. Out of the three of them the penguin digimon was the weakest, and the smallest, not even reaching the other two's waists. Size aside, or perhaps because of it, Penmon was a rogue with a couple tricks up his sleeves. Leomon understood his sentiments; there was no way of knowing how well those tricks were going to work against the undead thing.

"With everything we've got." Meramon answered.

"If we don't we're dead anyway." Leomon didn't wait any longer and went through the exit, an arch of white light, confident that his two companions were right behind him. Despite his complaining Leomon knew Penmon could be counted on.

* * *

Ryo groaned, hardly dignified, but excusable given the situation. He had misjudged Neo, again. The odds that had looked so favourably at first had shifted; right now Neo's one digimon was more than a match for the defenders. Especially now that both Monodramon and he had been, effectively, cut from the battle.  
Ryo suddenly became suspicious. The sudden turnaround was too much of a coincidence where Neo was concerned. The traitor never acted without a plan, and coming into the past with only one digimon with the knowledge that everyone before him had failed was too uncharacteristic. Two things, he believed, could be the case. Like the other fakes this Neo could be a clone – his inhuman strength certainly seemed to support this – or he had come here with a plan, how? Without knowing Jijimon was here?

"You knew Jijimon was here," Ryo said. Knowing the moment he said it to be true. He recalled something about the old digimon, he was said to have existed since the dawn of the Digital World. It wasn't that far a stretch to imagine that Neo possessed the same knowledge. Millenniumon would, at the very least. Neo laughed, and then shrugged.

In that moment Neo briefly looked away. Despite the pain still in his stomach, and his aversion to receiving more, Ryo leapt up from where Neo had dropped him. He tried to punch his adversary, but again he was out manoeuvred. Grabbing his upper arms Neo, almost effortlessly, picked him up and threw him away. Rolling on landing Ryo nearly dropped off the rise and into a fall that wasn't going to end.

"Forget your lackey, what the hell are you?" Ryo demanded.

* * *

Monodramon stirred, still feeling as if a hundred needles of bone were stuck in his stomach. Fortunately it was a phantom pain, though knowing did little to alleviate the discomfort. He had fallen unconscious after the ambush, never even seeing the coward who had struck him. How long had he been out? Shouts reached his ears, the conflict was still going on, so it couldn't have been that long.

Looking up from lying on his stomach on the cold crystal ground – at one time the very crystals had a soft resonance, as if Father's very spirit inhabited them, now they were silent – to see a black horror thwarted by a jagged wall erected from the very crystals they stood on.

The wraith landed on the wall's surface and rose to his feet. Gravity didn't seem to have any hold over him as he now stood against the wall. His staff tapped the surface lightly, being the only thing about the undead horror that still seemed solid. The wan light in the sphere flared in irregular bursts.

Denied his prey his flaming eyes were drawn to someone who had just drawn attention to himself, no matter how silent his call had been.

Monodramon moved before the wraith did and that was the only reason he managed to reach the intended quarry before the inhuman speed of Skull Satamon created its first fatality. The young dragon barrelled, shoulder first, into Nanomon's side. The two tumbled over a moment before the wraith's staff slammed into the ground; Skull Satamon landed a moment after. Glowing sparks danced where Nanomon had lain, almost with a life of their own.

Skull Satamon hissed, bringing his charred face closer to his prey. Unable to move they just looked into his eyes, stricken by the madness they found there. As such none of them noticed a pillar of light forming, briefly, behind the cloak of Jijimon's wall.

A blast of fire, shaped like a lion's head, came at the wraith soon after. Skull Satamon using only his single arm whirled his staff around and slashed the fire apart with its crescent end. The spell was broken with the wraith's attention diverted. Monodramon and Nanomon quickly took this opportunity to distance themselves from it.

* * *

Leomon ran up to the wraith, looking even more foreboding in the flesh – as it were – than the view-screens had revealed, drawing his sword in the process. He was dimly aware of footfalls behind him, but put that out of his mind when he neared Skull Satamon. The undead creature was content to wait for him.

Leomon opened with an easy swing, a way of measuring his opponent's strength, watching it parried just as easily by the wraith's staff. Wielded only with one hand it still had a surprising muscle behind it. Satisfied with his rough estimate of his opponent Leomon went into a flurry of sword strikes, most of them stopped, in some fashion, by the staff. He almost got hit himself when, after a deftly evasion, the staff whirled around to bring the crescent end down to slash open his abdomen should he have continued the barrage. Forced back his place was immediately taken by Meramon.

Flaming punches continued to drive the wraith back, but Leomon couldn't help but think it was out of choice and not necessity. Like they were being baited; realizing this he looked at the sphere topping the staff. It was glowing in full.

About to shout a warning the lion was stayed when five red missiles flew over. Skull Satamon hissed, destroying the projectiles with a wave of his wand and the cursed bones. Meramon stumbled; the explosion was right over his head. At once Leomon grabbed his friend's arm to drag him back.

* * *

"Why me?" Penmon muttered. How he always seemed to find himself into such binds was beyond him. Like that nasty little job before they had been stranded here. He sighed, if only he didn't value sticking by his friends so much he'd be behind a nice little rock right now oblivious to any danger.

With a final curse to his less than stellar fortunes Penmon started forward, after a few steps he fell on his stomach and slid further, able to slide faster than he could walk. Skull Satamon's back came closer faster than he cared for. At the last moment he forced a jump, flying true.

"Ice Prism," he called out, knowing, more than feeling, the ice crystals form on his flippers. He slammed the prisms on the wraith's skull, taking care not to touch him or the dark shadowy aura with his own skin. The smaller crystals easily latched on and started to grow to envelop the entire skull. Penmon pushed off his ice, completing his flight over the horror. It was at times like these he regretted being a penguin, having wings but lacking the ability of true flight. Back on the ground he scampered off, sliding between his two larger companions, as fast as his wobbly feet could carry him. He had done his part.

With Skull Satamon momentarily occupied and the ice already starting to crackle, both Leomon and Meramon made their move. Each slammed a giant sized fist into Skull Satamon's rigor grin. The ice covering shattered at once and to their relief so did the ashen skull. For a moment the two warriors visibly relaxed, but Skull Satamon did not fall.

* * *

Leomon reacted first, but was still unable to prevent himself from receiving a grazing blow from the staff weapon. He lumbered back a few steps, otherwise fine. Meramon wasn't so lucky; the spherical end struck him like a truck, discharging another barrage of its debilitating energy. The fire giant was sent flying.

Skull Satamon grinned, without a sound and without a head, but the gesture was unmistakable. The two lichfire dots that were his eyes were held in a mimicry of his formerly solid skull, made from the shadowy waft that came from him. An aura that looked like dissolving data fragments, but a seemingly endless supply of them. His inability to pass through solid ground had fooled them. He was more spirit now than digimon. Even for his undead species this was unheard of, at least to Leomon.

The lion braced himself for the inevitable and as he had thought a staff soon found its way into his peripheral vision. A staff, mounted with a cat's paw.

Though Jijimon seemed frail and slow he had nevertheless joined the lion's side without getting noticed and his staff hit Skull Satamon with tremendous force, shattering the wraith's legs utterly. Like the wraith Jijimon's appearance had been deceptive, though he looked old he was far from frail. It was just that he appalled violence.

Even without his legs Skull Satamon did not fall. He didn't need them, or the physical form at all for that matter, anymore. He swung his own staff at the same time Jijimon did, causing the two ends to collide. The next thing they all knew was that they were lying on their backs, their ears ringing from the explosion. Skull Satamon's staff was shattered; Jijimon's was charred and lay close to where the old digimon had landed. The wraith though, was unharmed save for the fact that now none of his bones remained. An incorporeal spirit, Leomon had no doubt he was even stronger now, despite the loss of his weapon. How did you destroy a spirit? Truthfully Leomon did not know, this went far beyond his level of expertise. But he was an experienced warrior and his instincts were telling him what to do. A spirit could not be destroyed, but if he could be forced back into something solid, they could kill it.

* * *

"What am I?" Neo asked snidely. For once he seemed to lose his composure. He glared down at Ryo with his cold blue eyes, eyes that even now seemed to shine with a light of their own. No, not seemed to shine, they did glow. More than that, Ryo recognized the patterns set deep in his irises that resonated with the glow. They looked like circuit boards. "Look into these eyes and tell me what you see." Neo hissed.

The look was disconcerting. Perhaps he should've weighed his words more carefully, but Ryo was beyond caring. Besides, there was little to gain from trying to stay on Neo's good side. He had nothing of the sort. "Doesn't answer my question."

"No, it doesn't, does it?" Neo replied. "Very well, for old time's sake I'll explain." When they had still been friends, or rather when Neo had still been acting friendly, the white-haired boy had oft held many discussions with Ryo. Some to Ryo's betterment, but most Ryo realized now, to subtly undermine his confidence. Explaining, or rather the act of showing off his intelligence, was a vice Neo happily indulged himself in, when the situation merited it. "I'm quite good at what I do. You can attest to this, you didn't even know I was after your life until I told you. And yet, I failed. Do you know what that means?"

Ryo nodded, "Millenniumon hardly seems like a forgiving master."

"Indeed, he is not." Neo's voice was wistful and the glow in his eyes died down. "When the coliseum exploded – and congratulations by the way for countering not only his energies but surviving it – I was swept along with him into the future. Because of you I was injured pretty badly, so he fixed me up. Made me stronger than human, more resilient than human, I can see things others can't. Digital information is visible to me. Inside his fortress, do you have any idea what kind of headache I got? Everything is one huge database."

"He made you stronger?" Ryo questioned. That hardly seemed like a punishment. Neo echoed his thoughts.

"Funny isn't it? He elevated me above the weak human condition and yet he sees this as punishment. Before I was his prime agent, now I'm nothing more than his other programs, less even than his clones. I'm more digimon now than man, and for some reason digimon don't rank high with Millenniumon."

* * *

Leomon roared, a sound filled with defiance, and charged. Long strides carried him across the distance, passing the scorch mark where energies had collided, towards the crouching wraith. He did not carry his sword, and despite his cry he didn't appear to be ready for battle. Curiously, and driven himself by curiosity, the shadow spirit that had once been Skull Satamon watched him come.

"No, don't do it!" Penmon shouted. The wily rogue had reasoned what the valiant lion was attempting.

Paying the penguin no heed he ran into the wraith's shadow form, his eyes passing into the lichfire globes. Pain as he had never felt before, a cold chilling not only his body but his soul, poured into every part of his body. He cried out, and wasn't ashamed for it. He did not try to force the pain away. Instead he drew it in, and the dark spirit with it until all that stood was a roaring lion.

"My friend, what have you done?" Meramon muttered.

Nanomon answered the question. "Of course, we can't defeat a spirit, but now that he has been absorbed he's once again made flesh. And can be killed."

"You want us to kill Leomon?" Meramon raged.

"Your friend is gone," Jijimon said, "That is no longer Leomon."

Green lichfire glowed where Leomon's violet eyes, rare for his species, had been. His wild mane was dancing around, as if a mighty wind blew around him. He seemed taller and his fur began to turn white. The wraith's power was warping his body into a form more suited to it. If it was undead, they'd be back at square one.

"Farewell, brave friend," Penmon said. Giving the warrior a final salute the more powerful members of their group all converged on him. Missiles, fire, whatever could be spared with the exception of a physical assault. Leomon's body was still that of an adult and couldn't take the strain. They all held their breath as his body turned into black data. It didn't coalesce again, Skull Satamon was gone and so was Leomon.

* * *

"Such a pity," Neo said. "For a mindless brute he was most promising, a work of art really. Despite my," he seemed to think on the wording. "Falling out, some of my proposals were actually executed. Goes to show you can't keep a good idea down."

Even though his partner was dead Neo still stood tall and didn't appear to be dying, unlike the clones. "It's really you," Ryo said.

"Still didn't believe me did you? Well, can't say I blame you, I can hardly believe it either." Neo's gaze was fixed on the defenders. Their time together was up. "Wish I could say it's been fun, but it's been completely one-sided. Time to die."

Ryo smiled, despite knowing that Neo could easily toss him over the edge before his friends could intervene. The traitor had run out of time, but even if he couldn't destroy the Atanasoff without a digimon partner, he could kill Ryo and that would settle the score anyway. Millenniumon could send back troops at his leisure.

"No final clever retort?" Neo asked.

Despite all of this Ryo smiled and surreptitiously drew his D-Arc. Neo cocked his head at Ryo's show of confidence and that's when he leapt up. Like before Neo had him by his arms before he could make a good punch, but that wasn't what he was going for. His digivice made contact with Neo's chest and the other screamed. Arcs of blue energies coursed through him.

"It's not a smart thing to say you're like a digimon," Ryo grinned, "to a Tamer."

Ryo shook off Neo's grip on his arms, keeping the digivice against the traitor's body all the while.

"Surrender," Ryo demanded.

"Never!" Neo shouted, forcing his body to move. He was indeed alike to a digimon, but a part of him was still human and that part allowed him to break the hold the digivice was having over him. Not by much, but enough to punch Ryo in the face.

Had he still his full speed it would've connected, but Ryo took a step away from him to avoid it. Contact with the digivice broke, and Neo stumbled when he was released. Ryo darted behind him and slammed the digivice into Neo's back none to gently. Neo was shoved forward, again his muscles were constricted. Combined with his earlier loss of balance he tripped fully and over the edge of the rise he had selected for Ryo. With a scream he disappeared into the dark void. Dispassionately Ryo watched until he could no longer see him. Twice now had he seen Neo fall, as he had fallen from grace, to his death. The first time had been an accident, this time he didn't have the luxury. This time, too, he hoped it would stick.


	36. End of Time

**Chapter 35**

"_**End of Time"**_

* * *

Breathing heavily Ryo dragged his feet away from the edge, each step taking him further back down the rise. Though no sound came from the void below he could still hear, in his mind, the outcry of his mortal enemy falling to his death. This time it had to be to his death, it just had to.

"Farewell Neo, may you find rest from your own demons," Ryo said. He could not mourn the death of his enemy; far too many had fallen for him to elevate any one above the others. A taunt made by Neo came to him. He had become a murderer, the personal assassin for the Greater Good, just as Neo had for evil. It was a loss he wasn't prepared to contemplate just yet, lest it weaken his resolve. After Millenniumon was defeated, after he had gone home, there was plenty of time for reflection then.

As he walked back to the others he could see they were as weary as he was. As Neo had been taxing to him, the wraith had taxed them.

"Are you guys all right?"

"As well as can be expected," Monodramon said. To Ryo the exhaustion caused by using too many cards was plain to see. He'd recover by himself over time, but that was the one thing they were running out of. One more temporal incursion could very well spell their doom.

Ryo turned to Penmon and Meramon, the last two of the refugees he had brought back with him from one of his dimensional hops. That one he remembered well, it was the first time he had used a blue card. "I'm sorry about Leomon, he died bravely."

"Don't be sorry, it's what he would've wanted," Meramon said.

"Going back into our main reality and melding back into the digimon from that place, losing our memories and our very existence. That was the kind of meaninglessness he hated. We'll remember his life, and his sacrifice, always," Penmon said.

Ryo sighed, it was a sentiment he had heard many times before. For the stragglers it never made things easier to bear. He wished they had more time to honour Leomon's passing – wishing for no one to die no longer occupied his thoughts, it was an unreasonable hope.

Shaking his head at the futility of it all he sat down next to Monodramon, his arms folded on his knees. For lack of anything better he decided that, if he had to wait, he might as well do it sitting down. The commune was as good as gone; the Atanasoff was saved but didn't look much better. Things were coming to a close, for better or for worse, he could feel it.

Nanimon watched him for a few moments, as if expecting him to do something profound. Ryo didn't know what he was expecting, without the ENIAC he was trapped in the past, he couldn't do anything.

"If yer 'ere, shouldn't we be going back? Ye cannit be holin' up both places at once?" Nanimon said.

"That won't be necessary anymore," Ryo said.

"Wut?"

"Our home was destroyed by Millenniumon's forces," Monodramon elaborated. "We got them, but by then it was too late."

"ENIAC?" Penmon asked.

"He couldn't have been destroyed," Jijimon said. "He is the world, without him we won't be able to exist here."

True, but just have a look around you, Ryo thought. He didn't speak his bleak outlook out loud, he didn't need to. It was palpable. Despite best efforts the world was dying. There was only one way to go, and that was to do what he was brought here for.

"ENIAC," Ryo said. He cast his voice simply in the direction he was facing; no more was needed to communicate with the super computer. At least this was how it was before the attack of the dark clones. The super computer seldom spoke this way, as everyone in the world of the ENIAC could hear him. "I've done it. How do you want us to proceed?"

His reply took a few moments. Not much of a worry normally, but this was not normal, and when he did speak the weakness in his incorporeal voice brought despair on the faces of the denizens. Ryo knew what to expect, but even having heard ENIAC when the super computer had sent him and Monodramon after the false Daisuke and Takato, did little to prepare him for the progressing weakening of the entity that was the God of the Digital World.

"Ryo…you did well in saving the Atanasoff. Yet it has changed little, as you've no doubt noticed." Ryo nodded, even though there was no one to nod to. He knew the ENIAC had seen him though. "This world is vanishing, even without further invasions by Millenniumon it has only hours remaining."

"N-no, just like that, i-it's over?" Monodramon protested. His stutter, only apparent under extreme duress, came out in full force. "E-Ev-v-erything was futile, nothing we did, or our friends did, mattered?"

Ryo put a hand on his partner's shoulder to steady him.

"There is still a way, but it is dangerous. You could die and Millenniumon will not have needed to do a thing," ENIAC said.

Ryo snorted. It was far too late in his eyes to make a problem of danger now; everything they had done might have ended up killing them. And even so, did they have another choice?

"If we don't do anything we die anyway," Monodramon said. "W-what is it we have to do?"

Behind them a softer pillar of light appeared. "Look." ENIAC commanded of them. "This is…the gate…to the future. The world Millenniumon has formed…lies though there. But…that future lies in flux…it is a disconcerting possibility…but only a possibility. Before…in the other timelines…my power kept you stable. My power…is almost gone."

"And without power, what would happen to us if we go through it?" Ryo asked, though he believed he already knew the answer.

"Without power…you will cease to exist. Without an anchor back…you will be set adrift in an endless line of possibilities."

"If we go through we can face Millenniumon directly. So how do we get power?" Monodramon asked.

ENIAC at first didn't answer. "There is only one source of power strong enough to stabilize the gate. Converted programs are a mass of energy."

"Programs," Ryo said thoughtfully. He did not like where this was going, it reminded him too much about the demonic lair under the graveyard. A price to open a door, the ultimate price to pay for the greater good, was lives. "You mean digimon."

"That…is correct. Digimon, or Digital Monsters, are originally programs. Converting them…back into energy…will supply the gate."

"W-we can't sacrifice our friends!" Monodramon protested. Ryo shook his head, it shouldn't be Monodramon's decision. He was the Tamer, and he had been down this road before. More lives given for his cause, just a trickle in a larger deluge.

"Balance," ENIAC said. "Once converted a digimon can't come back. But use too little and the energy will run out before your job is done. Ryo…Monodramon…you will become unstuck in time…you'll vanish."

"So, h-how many must we sacrifice?" Monodramon was hardly able to speak and unable to look at his friends. How long had they lived in their community in peace? He had been the super computer's assistant, a prestigious position, and they had all been happy.

"That…is not for me to say…the choice should lie with Ryo. It's impossible to judge…how much energy any one digimon will provide, even being the same level…the result could be significantly different. But…this sacrifice…if Millenniumon is not defeated…everything will have been in vain."

"H-he is right," Monodramon said. Trying to sound assured, he nevertheless shitted around uneasily. "I'm sure everyone will gladly sacrifice themselves for you. I know I would. Yes, Millenniumon must be defeated. This surely is the only way."

Who are you trying to convince? Ryo thought. He appreciated the sentiment though. This was not an easy decision to reach, and Ryo hoped it never would, lest be become the same kind of monster he was trying to destroy. Already the line between what was right and what was needed was beginning to blur.

"Younglings," Jijimon said. "Let's not make this any harder than it should be. Without knowing what is going to happen we can only prepare for the worst. We will all power the portal."

"Thank you, everybody." Ryo tried to smile. Wanting everyone to believe he had faith in what he was doing, even though he didn't. He refused to give up, after everything he had gone through and all the lives lost, he wasn't going to lose. But he no longer had faith, not after everything he had seen and done.

"One more thing though, Monodramon is tired from the continued fighting, we won't be able to do our best."

"Understood…I will grant him a portion of the energy I have left…but afterward…you must go through the gate at once…power…is running out."

* * *

A soft glow enveloped Monodramon, filling the young dragon with renewed vigour. Closing his eyes, basking in his Father's presence – though Monodramon knew he was weakened, he couldn't feel anything but strength in this embrace – he was taken off guard when, instead of the dark of his eyelids he saw himself in the ENIAC's chamber. A ghostly version, where nothing stayed consistent for very long, except for the glowing ball of light floating atop a weaving pedestal.

"Father," he said. Or at least he thought he said. Atop the island of darkened crystals his body, his real body, remained completely silent. Monodramon could speak and move in this illusionary chamber and Ryo had no way of knowing what was happening. If it wasn't ENIAC who had come into his mind he'd be afraid.

_There is little time my son. The end is approaching fast._

"You know what is going to happen," Monodramon said. It wasn't a question.

_The future is ever uncertain, but the possibilities are known to me. Heed me now, my son. The challenge before you is the greatest you have ever faced. If you are to win you must give him all you have, all you are._

"I'll stand by Ryo all the way," Monodramon said and he was amazed he did not stutter. But then, this was all in his mind. He wasn't really speaking so much as thinking, and his thoughts had never been affected by a stutter.

_That's…_

* * *

The sounds of battle rang out across the grey wasteland. It was midday, an archaic denomination from when the world had not been trapped in eternal gloom. Tumultuous clouds in a variety of shades of grey replaced the blue of long ago. No one knew whether it still existed, somewhere above that deck of clouds. No one had been able to rise above them. A storm raged up there, unlike anything imaginable, making the clouds an impenetrable barrier. As if the gods of old had made one last desperate attempt to keep the evil trapped on this world, and this world alone.

Vamdemon, the vampire lord, wondered how their world would change with the defeat of their enemy. He hoped it did, for else they'd lose regardless. The world was dying, every year there were fewer crops to harvest, the soil harder to tend, and the lives of humans and digimon were waning. Something had to be done, something had to change.

Crimson energy formed around his gloved hand, dispelling his solemn reverie. What the future held was not for him to concern himself about – not at this moment. Flinging the energy like a whip he easily cut apart a cluster of bat-like digimon. More came when they had failed and Vamdemon hovered back, bringing his whip back for another blow.

All around the golden pyramid other Chosen digimon faced similar foes. Waves upon waves of demonic digimon, among them huge flocks of Evilmon, surrounded the fortress in defence. Vamdemon flung his whip again, with equal results, and withdrew a little faster. More bats came, but he grinned.

"Night Raid," he called out. Smaller black bats, each sharing their data with him, flew away at them. Some were destroyed instantly, but others bit down eagerly on the demonic minions, draining their power and sending it to him, their master. This was a long fight, and he wasn't going to risk running out of power before the end.

In his backward flight his shoulder grazed a small, if not insignificant, digimon. The grey thing, with its single eye, was broadcasting everything it saw to the fortress below. Destroying it meant nothing, Tsumemon were weak and it was only one of many of the vast spying network now observing the siege. Idly the vampire flicked a single bat at it, letting the feisty beast add the spy's minute energy to his own.

* * *

It crawled on the rocky ground with its six spindly legs, drawing closer to the gathering of children. A small group of Chosen, one of several, was watching the battle unfold. At times directing their partners to a particular area, they were mostly observers along with two female digimon as their chaperones. As the power source behind their partners they were wise not to leave themselves unprotected. Yet they failed to observe his approach, too involved with the greater battle.

Foolish, Infermon thought.

Above a cluster of Evilmon broke past the Vamdemon destroying them at leisure. Cackling and chittering wildly in their frenzy, the earthbound insect shared their desire for the kill, but lacked their lack of discipline. Unlike them he was a tad more cunning, headlong approaches rarely worked and a good stalk was ever so gratifying. He was right; close to the kill the angelic woman hovering over the group made no obvious move to stop them, yet a half-sphere of fractured light, shining like a rainbow, halted the Evilmon in their tracks.

Dazed the bat-like digimon were unprepared for the shower of green vapour the second female excreted. Infermon recognized its acidic properties in the way the bat demons died. Despite the deaths of his allies he grinned at the kill.

Then his mouth opened and a blast of energy shot out. This would catch his prey by surprise. The children jumped when the projectile exploded against the suddenly reappearing energy shield. Infermon hissed when Angewomon regarded him by turning her head slightly, a faint smile on her face. Her reaction speed deserved credit, as well as her attunement to his presence. A true angel, her sense of detecting evil far exceeded the natural ability of any digimon to sense their kin. Infermon had counted on the overwhelming number of digimon to hide his own presence.

As he was going for another shot the second female came at him in several bounds, carrying herself on six legs and with great speed. Energy was beginning to pool out of the nozzle, usually concealed within his mouth, when she punched him. His head whipped aside and the blast was shot astray.

With a hiss his head retracted into the shell of his body, and he sprang forward, hitting Archnemon in the stomach. She was knocked back with a grunt. At once Infermon's head came back out, levelling his cannon with her.

An arrow of holy energy thwarted him in the kill as it sliced through the three legs on his left side followed almost at once by a second that did the same on his right. With a crash he collapsed on the ground, howling in pain. Being an anomaly he knew his legs would re-grow in time, but that didn't do a thing against the pain.

"Look out!" a girl shouted. Probably the spider's partner, Infermon reasoned. Another group of bats had gotten past the vampire and were coming for Archnemon, having learned of their predecessors' failure to penetrate the protective aura around the Chosen. Archnemon was well outside that perimeter.

The warning came too late for Archnemon to react, disappointing Infermon as he had wanted the kill for himself. Before they could sink their fangs and claws into the spider's bloated lower body a green blur streaked among them, wiping them out in a pink blast.

"Are you all right?" Lilymon asked Archnemon in concern.

"I will be," Archnemon answered grimly.

Infermon's head whirled back to the spider. She had closed in fast and he still couldn't move. The last thing he saw where her large fists descending on his face.

* * *

Outnumbered beyond belief the rebel digimon were holding their ground, and none of the groups of Chosen had come in serious danger. The forces Millenniumon commanded were indeed vast, but whatever scheme he had been hatching had cost him his generals. Had they still been there, accompanied by this army of lower digimon, Hikari knew they would've lost. With just the army remaining their partners could overcome them, as they were doing right now. She smiled as she saw her long cherished hopes becoming a reality with each of the foes that were slain.

"We can actually win this," Naomi said.

Kazuya turned with a grin. "Of course we can."

"Perhaps we should up the ante a bit," Hikari mused. She had deliberately kept Angewomon in reserve. This wasn't the true battle, Zeed Millenniumon was, and they needed all the power they had for that.

Forgetting the army for a moment there was also the golden pyramid itself. Sharing a look with Angewomon she took out the crest of light hanging around her neck. Its soft and familiar energy flowed through her and, in extension, through Angewomon.

"Naomi, Rieko, you must as well. Let us take care of the pyramid; your partners must work with Vamdemon to keep anything from attacking Magnadramon. Because of her size she's vulnerable to the smaller enemies. They could crowd her."

"I'll be counting on you all," Angewomon said. She looked at each of them in turn, then flew up in rapid ascend.

Power came to her through her connection with Hikari, slowly at first but that steady stream became faster just as her flight was getting faster. All around there were pockets of fights, all around her were enemy forces, but none yet dared to strike at her. Over the years she had gained a mighty reputation among their foes. Her form became blurred in light and her helmet disappeared, leaving only clear blue eyes, eyes that were set in the face of a pink furred dragon.

Before the swarm of demons and monsters could rally against her, she opened her maw wide. A spiral blast cut through the demons that couldn't get out of the way fast enough. Against the pyramid's side it exploded, leaving empty space and scorched gold behind. The walls still stood.

* * *

The inside of the hallway shook. Something of power had just collided with its walls, and if Ryo wasn't mistaken – which, as he thought of it, he wasn't often – it had come from the outside. A most fortuitous moment for laying a siege, ENIAC had chosen well. Guardedly he looked around, but the hallway – a cavernous space – was empty. It was clear the place was supposed to be inhabited by digimon, and fairly large ones at that, even if it was now deserted. With the battle raging on the outside the two of them might not even be obstructed.

"Come, Monodramon," Ryo said. His voice turned detached. Almost in a mutter, he gave voice to a desire that had been growing, unvoiced, unheard and put away, until now. "Let's finally end this. So I can go home."

* * *

The tremor passed through the throne room, and broken pieces of glass, scattered all over the floor, tinkled. No one had bothered cleaning it after Neo's forced escape and his current subjugation of a Skull Satamon lieutenant. Since then no one had entered this chamber, leaving Millenniumon alone with his own chaotic thoughts.

Eyes closed the chimera basked in the ensuing chaos outside, his own mind, in a moment of rarity, calm. Though they fought with their usual vigour, driving by their own carnal needs as well as their fear of him, his forces were losing. Soon the walls of his fortress would give way and the resistance would finally be able to claim entry to his sanctum.

Zeed-Millenniumon spared them little thought, allowing them their conceit of victory, their remnant of hope. What happened outside the walls no longer mattered to him, if they ever truly had. The soul focus of his turbulent mind, never once knowing peace – wait, was that right? – had arrived. He could feel him, as he had felt his presence across time. Their meeting was meant to be and now that moment was there. The only being in all the universes that could stand against him and had, in the past, done so at every junction.

"After all this time, all the preparations, he has passed the trials. He's coming at last." Both of Millenniumon's mouths curled into a satisfied grin. "My Beloved."

* * *

Magna Dramon reared her head back for another shot, making the still enormous horde squawk in fear. None of the smaller demons wanted to be between her and the pyramid, yet with their numbers it was impossible for all of them to make way.

Despair drove a large number of them to charge the feline dragon, perhaps to kill, perhaps to wound or just to get to relative safety behind her back. Magna Dramon ignored them and fired, again taking a fair number of the enemy down but no more than scorching the nigh impenetrable walls of the golden pyramid.

Now the smaller demons were almost upon her, cackling wildly as they picked their targets. Going for her neck and her eyes, they'd feast on the tender meat. Magna Dramon was well aware of what they intended, but faith kept her from staying her course.

A blur of dark red, green, and black, moved to intercept them. The fusion of Lilymon and Archnemon was a tall woman, though compared to Magna Dramon she was a mere speck. Unlike other Rosemon her colouring was darker, influenced by the half of her that had been a spider. Appearing among the other flyers, the wan vine around her arm hardened and lengthened. Sharp as a rapier's blade she cut the small demons apart with precise strikes. Circling around her draconic ally Rosemon dispatched whatever foe dared near. Unfortunately their focus shifted now to Rosemon, an enemy closer to their size and easier to overwhelm with pure numbers.

* * *

Rosemon sprang into a flurry of moves, almost like a dance, darting between the demons assailing her, slashing them apart with her vine rapier and whip. With every demonic death more only seemed to take their place. At least they weren't attacking Magna Dramon anymore, the feline dragon had free reign in blasting the pyramid. Rosemon had no opportunity to see the effects, but if she had she would've seen the golden shell weakening.

"Rosemon!" a voice called out.

Crimson flashes appeared before her, clearing the air for several moments. Rosemon backed away slightly, looking at a man's caped back. Red energy danced around Vamdemon's fingers.

"I'll hold them off, you blast them," he called back. Whips of burning power made good on his words, no Evilmon or other demonic digimon, came near her. Vamdemon though, was beginning to get overwhelmed. With every pass of his whips it became harder to bring them back for another round as the demons, with single-minded determination, pressed on.

Rosemon's vines, snaked in part around her arms, fell limply at her side. Bringing her hands to the Tifaret jewel on her chest she nurtured the energy within, seeing and feeling it glow. A cloud of rose petals flew out from her, followed by a blast of energy. The pink burst flew past Vamdemon and blew away all demons assaulting him. For a few moments they were free of the constant battle.

"Thanks," he said. In a burst of speed he flew away to engage the demons further on.

* * *

Vamdemon hadn't gone far when he noticed something odd in the enemy swarm. Thinned by the combined efforts of himself and his friends the demons still dominated most of the air, filling out almost every part of free space. The only lapse in their incongruent mass that he could understand was in the space between Magna Dramon and the pyramid. Yet, inexplicably, there was another hole, or more like a corridor, in the writhing mass that seemed to have no purpose.

Something else bothered him, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Nevertheless his instincts were screaming at him. Not caring if it made him look foolish he fired a blood-red stream in the empty air, where it actually hit something. Now he understood what his senses were trying to tell him, there had been a distortion in the air, almost a rippling effect.

Struck by his crimson whip the distortion took on a more solid shape, changing in seconds from air to a dark mechanical form. Vamdemon willed himself to fly away in the face of the approaching enemy, leading with a powerful looking lance. The whip had managed to knock the tip of it slightly astray so it just pierced his cape instead of his gut. He wasn't out of danger yet though, a strong fist struck him in the stomach. Vamdemon fell in pain, trailed by the torn fabric of his cape.

It took him several seconds before he could push through the pain in his stomach and slow his fall to a controlled descend. Now below his assailant the vampire had time to see just what it was. Humanoid in form he looked like the cross of a dragon with a bug. Encased in dark blue armour, tainted with hints of purple and red, he had a combination of a gauntlet and lance on his right arm.

Vamdemon could easily see that if the wicked weapon had gutted him it would've spelled the end. Around the dragon's head was a transparent visor and wild reddish hair sprung from its back. His wings were light blue and shaped like that of a moth. Unlike the other strong fighters the final guardian monster of Millenniumon's pyramid, Darkdramon, had not been sent away.

"Vamdemon, hang on!" Rosemon yelled.

Darkdramon looked briefly from him to the approaching Rosemon, a vicious snarl of his face. Stopping his fall the vampire created a couple of bats out of the ruined material of his cape. She would not get to them in time if the dragon decided to attack him now.

"No, stay back, I can take him!" Vamdemon called back, his words a surprisingly easy lie. Without Rosemon as guard Magna Dramon was open to attacks. Even if it cost him his life he could not allow that to happen.

But the dragon surprised him by once again turning invisible. Vamdemon tried tracking him through the distortion effect, but he could only keep that up in the first moments of Darkdramon's disappearance. It was enough to see him fly up, telling him everything he needed to know.

"He's after Magna Dramon!"

"Where is he?" Rosemon said, casting about herself frantically.

The air remained empty; none of the smaller demons were coming close to the furred dragon, so there was no tunnel through them that betrayed his passage. If only the air wasn't so empty, if only it was filled with something, anything, Vamdemon thought, so he and Rosemon had a target to work with.

"Rosemon, fill the air around Magna Dramon with rose petals!" Vamdemon called out, flying back up to Magna Dramon. He couldn't find Darkdramon, but at least he could be closer when he became visible again. Hopefully in time to make a difference.

"Forbidden Temptation," Rosemon called out, forming the red petals that accompanied the release of her energy. She didn't need to contain the power for long, Darkdramon's passage was clearly visible by the way the rose leaves were scattering.

Darkdramon growled, turning visible before the energy hit. With crossed arms, lance in front of the other, he weathered the attack. Coming out scorched but not yet defeated.

"Fine," he growled. "I'll kill you first."

* * *

Standing in front of the large door it was apparent they had reached what they'd been looking for, every important passage and hallway eventually converged here. It was plain, aside from the same circuitry that was prevalent everywhere. Hardly the décor of the ruler of all time, yet they both understood. What use is a fancy door when everything is already yours? No need to show off your status then, like the would-be dictators Ryo had encountered in his travels. Millenniumon was the real deal.

"This is it, Monodramon," Ryo said.

Monodramon looked slightly queasy. "W-what's your plan?"

"No plan, if there's one thing I think I remember it's that plans aren't really my strong suit." Ryo grinned as he looked down at his partner. "We've been together for some time now, you know how I work."

"I know," Monodramon said in a deadpan voice.

"We're going in guns blazing. Don't worry about anything but defeating Millenniumon; I've got your back. There are some combos I've thought up just for this I've been dying to try out."

"So you do have a plan. Now I'm worried."

"No you're not," Ryo said with utmost certainty; Monodramon wasn't stuttering anymore.

From his pocket he took two cards, without seeing them he knew them to be a defensive card and a speed card. Ordering his deck of cards specifically and memorizing it gave him an edge in battle. The power they could give his partner wasn't worth much against the opponent they were about to face, but they still had their use. Glowing from his fingertips outward the cards turned blue.

"Let's go!" Ryo shouted, slashing both cards, one after the other. Regretfully he could only do this trick with two cards, bringing Monodramon to Perfect level. Just once he would've liked to take on Millenniumon with an Ultimate digimon on his side, just to level the playing field some more. It was hardly fair how he was expected to win each time against such odds. Yet this time he had his cards and an actual say in how the battle was fought. Win or lose he was a real part of this. In the first fight he had stood by, giving strength to Paildramon. In the second he had fought with Neo, but otherwise held no real part against Millenniumon. V-mon, Magnamon, had stood alone. Was he alive? Ryo wondered what had happened at the end, if anyone had gotten out alive. He had, Millenniumon had, and so had Neo, so it was possible.

"Soon I can find out," he decided. He had earned it.

* * *

Unceremoniously the huge door, as well as some of its framework, exploded inward. Compelled by destructive green energy – writhing almost as if alive – the debris did not move fast enough for the black armoured dragon. Cutting through his own stray wisps of power Cyberdramon barrelled the remains of the door aside in his charge. The dragon was hardly aware of Ryo running in after him as he was captivated by the sight of Millenniumon. Nothing they had faced could have prepared him for this.

Not only was the throne room huge, it even seemed too small for the ruler on his seat of power. Cyberdramon came in low under the watchful gaze of the two-headed dragon, a gaze that was by no means taking note of him.

"Ryo," Millenniumon said, almost reverently.

Under the dragon's noses Cyberdramon rose up, slashing at its trapped body. Build within the dais on which he sat was a large blue crystal, containing still half of him, though its size was many times now that of when it had contained his spirit as Moon-Millenniumon. The amalgamation of his form, of blue and red scales almost like fire, did not offer protection against Cyberdramon's attacks. Yet every of his strike was blocked by a ring of fractal codes. Not only did they contain Zeed-Millenniumon's unstable power they also offered him some protection from others.

Millenniumon gave no sign that he noticed he was under attack. "Such an entry was not necessary, though very befitting of you, very becoming. I knew you would come here eventually, when you defeated the others. As I've always known, we are the only ones with the power to defeat the other. This is destiny most profound."

"Hey, don't get so full of yourself! You're dealing with me now," Cyberdramon growled, imposing himself between his partner and the two-headed dragon, blocking Ryo from sight. Pure malevolence washed over Cyberdramon like a tidal wave.

"Insect, be gone," Millenniumon said, tearing viciously at Cyberdramon. His blue head was still solely fixed on Ryo, but the red one was livid with rage. The cybernetic dragon retreated, pursued by a huge red claw. It was gaining on him; he couldn't fly back fast enough. Twisting underneath a vicious backhand he clawed at the twin-headed dragon's wrist. Any other would have been hurt, if not grievously injured.

"What does it take to kill him?" Cyberdramon muttered. Was the power of a being that had transcended Ultimate level, not once but twice, truly so far beyond them all? If Ryo truly had a plan, this was the time to make it work. Speed suddenly flowed into him, just in time to propel himself over the return swipe. Bracing himself for another he was surprised when the crimson arm pulled back instead.

"You are not worth the effort. Come to oblivion, Fallen Hell," Millenniumon said. Calm had returned to his dual voice. Between outstretched talons a black hole formed. Glass shards danced on the ground for a second before flying into the hole. There was no wind, yet the pull of the fissure in time and space made it seem like a tornado was raging. A tearing sound came from the walls and in some places they started to deform.

Even with the added speed he was not strong or fast enough to prevent himself for being drawn to the hole, no matter how much he struggled. Roaring in defiance he forced himself to the ground, digging in his claws. Even anchored he knew he couldn't hold out long, and from the look of it neither could the ground. To kill him Millenniumon was even willing to tear down his own fortress, though with the sounds of battle from the outside he was probably going to lose it regardless. Belatedly he was struck with a worrying realization. "Ryo!"

"I'm fine Cyberdramon, don't worry about me," Ryo answered. Along with Millenniumon the boy was the only thing that wasn't being affected by the small black hole.

"Yes, worry about yourself. His fate is no longer tied with yours, as it should be," Millenniumon said. Both heads were looking only at Ryo, anticipating what he was going to do next.

"Don't be so sure about that," Ryo countered. A card flashed between his fingers. "We're just getting started with you. Card Slash, Magna Angemon!"

A ring of pure gold, adorned with old digicode inscriptions, appeared above Ryo's head. Within the ring a pool of the clearest silver rippled, like the surface of water if the ring hadn't been hovering vertically. It hovered in place only for a moment before the combined forces of the two gateways drew each other in. Kept in place by Millenniumon's dark power it was the unanchored Gate of Destiny that slammed into the black hole. With a flash both holes were nullified. Millenniumon drew back, his hand scorched by the momentary discharge.

* * *

"How did you like that?" Ryo asked.

Millenniumon looked away from his own damaged flesh, looking at Ryo at once balefully and admiringly. With two heads he could easily pull off the conflicting emotions.

"It's not enough," Millenniumon said, showing his opponents the ruined flesh. Already it was starting to regenerate and at a rate much faster than that of an ordinary digimon. Existing as a spirit Millenniumon had surpassed the limitations of the flesh.

"Then have some more! Cyberdramon!" Ryo shouted. His heart was pumping and he grinned. Like the battles before it was so invigorating he couldn't help himself. Watching his partner tear his claws out of the floor, leaving behind a small trail of rocks, he drew three special cards from the back of his deck. Unlike the others he had refrained from using them as much as possible. On the off chance that he had been watching them across time Ryo didn't want for Millenniumon to know about their strongest move. That, and before now he had not thought his partner was able to take the strain the cards were going to put on him.

He swiped the first card through his D-Arc. "Card Slash, King's Device." The dark dragon grew in size, doubling, tripling, until he was as large as their adversary. With two behemoths even the spacious chamber seemed cramped. With size came strength, but Ryo wasn't done yet. "Card Slash, Queen's Device." An aura of power manifested around Cyberdramon's gargantuan form, multiplying his strength as the King's Device had with his size.

With the size of a hut the armoured dragon gave the red dragonhead a vicious uppercut, causing it to snap back. What might have been a startled look flashed briefly on the blue dragon's face before Cyberdramon punched that too.

* * *

With both heads in a daze Cyberdramon grappled the rings surrounding the twin-headed dragon's chaotic body. Heaving, he tore the tyrant from his throne, severing the connections with the networks of the world, if only for the duration of their struggle. With a grunt he pushed Millenniumon back, lifting him slightly over head. There was a tightening in his chest and a dulling sensation in his mind. He knew the signs of over-exerting himself. Ignoring it came easy. He held his arch-foe in his very claws. No way was he going to pass this up, even if it destroyed his body.

"You bastard, Father is hurt because of you, my friends have died because of you!" Cyberdramon raged. Using the enemy's body as a battering ram the two plunged through the back wall of the throne room and the one after that. Cyberdramon kept going until they burst through the outer wall of the pyramid. For a structure of its size the end was almost too easily reached. Down the self-made corridor he could still see the throne room and Ryo. What he saw behind him was nothing compared to what he saw in front of him. Opened before his eyes was a ravaged world. A desperate struggle for life between evil and what remained of good. There he held, with Millenniumon stuck halfway inside and outside. For a moment the sight captivated him, before a pair of lances appeared in his hands.

Millenniumon stirred and Cyberdramon plunged the weapons through the blue and red claws, straight through the palms and the wall, pinning him down. A deafening roar escaped from Millenniumon's heads.

* * *

Darkdramon's gaze was drawn, like a moth to flame, towards the hole in the golden walls of the pyramid. Barrage after barrage from Magnadramon hadn't been able to shatter its protective coating, but now something from the inside had. And that something was fighting his master, killing him if the roar was any indication, and that was impossible.

The bloodied form of Vamdemon stirred in his left hand, talons wrapped around the vampire's pale neck. His once regal clothing was torn in many places; the mask on his face had been completely torn off. Even now the vampire was drifting in a state between consciousness and unconsciousness. With but a twisting of his hand Darkdramon could snap his neck and end his life, yet he was unable to do so, unable to do anything but look at his master. Final guardian of the fortress he had had the honour of basking in his God's countenance only a handful of times. Looking at him now chilled him deep into his dark core.

"Hey," a voice said; a woman's voice. "Why don't you look over here?"

Tearing his eyes away from the blasphemy, an act that he imagined felt like tearing out your own digicode, he was startled to find Rosemon hovering right in front of him. His warrior instincts were screaming at him, but she had already laid a hand on his visor. With a life of its own the vine around the slim arm snaked around his neck.

He wanted to plunge the lance through her body, yet he was unable to lift his hand against the magnificent creature before him. He wanted to snap the vampire's neck, yet that would make her sad. Her lips curved in a soft smile and again he was stricken by the beauty in front of him. He'd do anything to see that smile forever.

A low growl escaped from deep in his throat. He realized she was affecting his mind, but it wasn't enough to break the hold she had over him. Part of him didn't want her to go.

"Forbidden Temptation!" she shouted, revealing her form in a dazzling pink light. It was the last thing Darkdramon saw before the energy tore into him, through the visor, burning away his eyes, his flesh. He didn't even feel it taking away most of his torso.

Rosemon held only empty space, and she drew back her hand to reform the vine into something sharp. A single slice, and the dragon's hand was separated from the already degrading remains. When Vamdemon started to fall she easily caught him and held him tight. She took no notice of the dragon's remains disintegrating in freefall.

"Don't worry, I've got you now," she said soothingly. Unable to hold on to his higher form any longer a sigh escaped his lips and he devolved back to Pico Devimon.

* * *

Millenniumon roared, his twin heads rising to stare down on Cyberdramon's gargantuan body. Malevolence shone brightly in his eyes and his lips curved into a macabre grin, despite the poles still sticking through his palms. If Cyberdramon had seen it he would've worried, but as far as the cybernetic dragon was concerned he had just spiked Millenniumon to the wall. Time itself had stopped for him.

Out of his two wide maws beams of the foulest kind erupted, washing over Cyberdramon's motionless body. Where they touched the masonry of the pyramid the matter simply ceased to exist, cutting through everything. Only the power of the Queen's Device kept it from destroying Cyberdramon out right. The power that held him in a single moment was lifted by Millenniumon. Within it Cyberdramon could've died without ever being the wiser and that wasn't something the cruel ruler was going to grant him. No, Ryo's tool in this battle was going to feel everything.

Now Cyberdramon was flung back, through all the holes he had made, back to the throne room. The glow around him suddenly faded and a pain unlike any other wracked his body. Not even halfway back to the throne room the dragon exploded, a cry lingering in the empty halls and rooms.

* * *

The air rippled like the surface of a pond after a pebble had disturbed its tranquillity. Almost at once the distortion coalesced into solid shape, a dark armoured dragon. He stood on the dais, safe and sound, his normal size once again. None of the Device Cards were working for him anymore. That was the least of his worries, by all rights he should've died just then. Over his shoulder he saw Ryo put a used card back in his deck. Though he couldn't see it he knew which one it was, the alias card. So, he had died, or at least another version of himself. He hated that card, not knowing whether it made a fake to take a deathblow or making a copy and letting the original die.

"Thanks," Cyberdramon said, but before he could say anything more another blast came from the ravaged tunnel he had created in the interior of the pyramid. Not as strong as the one that had destroyed his giant body he still screamed when it struck him.

With a glow he turned back into Monodramon, rolling on the ground several times before coming to a stop at Ryo's feet.

* * *

A heavy chuckle sounded throughout the chamber before the source appeared from the hole, hovering until he was once again seated on his throne. Though he looked hurt he was far from defeated. The gaping holes in his palms were already mending.

"You fought well, but I cannot be defeated. I must have told you this before, a long, long time ago…" Millenniumon said. "I shall never die; never cease to exist in this world." Four eyes bored into Ryo's. "I exist solely for revenge against you, for what you did, for what you spurned. Each time you stopped me I only became stronger." He laughed. "Realize that I can never be destroyed in battle, no matter how many tools you send against me, no matter how you increase their power. I exist, and always will. Your defeat by my hands is inevitable."

Monodramon groaned, and slowly rose to his feet. Halfway he stumbled, instead settling simply for staying in a low crouch. "Is that so? You really are an idiot, even if you are indestructible, you won't win! You'll never win, never get what you want."

"Why continue to fight, I cannot be defeated. Perhaps if I lost my focus, my drive for revenge, then and only then, I might just be defeated. But that shall never happen. My anger cannot be abated, not after what you did."

"What did I do?" Ryo yelled. "I defeated you time and again, because you are evil. Why does that anger you so?"

"Ryo, don't," Monodramon started.

"You choose to fight on the wrong side, with the ones that took you from me. We could have been the best partners," Millenniumon said hoarsely. For the first time that Ryo could remember his arch-foe actually sounded regretful, though not making much sense. No, he was making sense, though Ryo didn't want to admit it. He was the only Chosen without a real partner. Often he thought of V-mon as his partner, and the two of them had become good friends. But that was, and always had been, only a temporary arrangement. If he was a Chosen, he had to have a partner.

"But now that can no longer be; you have been sullied. My position has been usurped, by the lowest of the low. You who could have stood with kings, have been a king, but instead reside with paupers."

* * *

Monodramon gasped when deep inside he could feel a power stirring. It was like the power of evolution, only different. Not the kind that came with Ryo's blue cards, that was forced and had nothing to do with the deep bond between a Chosen and his digimon. And Ryo was a Chosen, even before he had taken to the powers of a Tamer. This power did not come from Ryo, but from himself and another, the most unlikely of source. He had never experienced it, but he knew what it was.

Unbidden the words Father spoke to him came to mind. To win, he had to give it his all. He had assumed that he had to fight with all his strength to win, but that wasn't what he meant. Knowing the truth of Ryo and Millenniumon he had seen this as a possible outcome, the only outcome where they could win.

Monodramon knew how this worked; both participants had to be of one mind for it to succeed. That didn't need to be much, it could work with the desire for power and survival as it had when Chimeramon had joined with Mugen Dramon to become the terror he was today. He could fight it, suppress what he was feeling. Millenniumon was too powerful; when they joined his personality might disappear completely, overwhelmed by the dark god.

"Ryo, it's a Jogress," Monodramon said, pushing his doubts aside. He knew what Millenniumon wanted, it was the same thing he did. To be Ryo's partner, forever. Standing firm his body started to glow white.

"What kind of a bad joke is this? That's impossible," Millenniumon grumbled.

"It's not a joke," Monodramon answered, as if from far away. His body was only a white light now. "You can still get what you want. You can still get to be Ryo's partner."

"His partner," Millenniumon said his voice barely a whisper. Deep inside, where he had never bothered looking, he had never given up the hope that one day they would be partners. That desire resonated with Monodramon and before anyone knew it the entire chamber was filled with a bright light. It flowed through the holes and out of the throne room, further and further until even a beacon of light burst into the dark world outside.

Ryo stood alone, neither Monodramon nor Millenniumon were there anymore. From the ether Monodramon spoke one more time, a farewell. "Ryo…when we meet again…I don't know if I'll still be me…or if I'll be him…but I want you to know…our time together…was the best."

All of a sudden it was all over. A single egg remained when the flare of light had passed, an egg of gold and purple, descending slowly. When it neared Ryo took it gingerly in his arms. He felt conflicted; the egg in his arms was Millenniumon at his most vulnerable state. He could end this. Yet it was also Monodramon and that stayed his hand.

* * *

The pyramid's golden sheen had always made it seem as a bright place in an otherwise lightless world. Hikari, the Chosen of Light, was appalled that the only place that emanated light was the stronghold of the enemy. Now, briefly, a new light had shot out of the breach. It resonated within her as something good, but nothing good had come out of that pyramid, ever.

"Magnadramon, take me up there!" she called out and was soon astride her partner's head, keeping her balance with a single hand against the furred dragon's horns. No one moved against them, in fact most of the remaining swarm was in full retreat after the death of Darkdramon and the startling appearance of Millenniumon and the dragon fighting him. To keep them from causing more harm several of the other Chosen's digimon, the ones who didn't have a chance against Millenniumon himself, were in pursuit.

Magnadramon reached the breach, holding herself in place with her claws against the stained gold of the sloping walls. Hikari looked inside and found no sign of the enemy they came to confront. She could not believe her eyes when a boy holding something, an egg, was all there was to be found at the end of the impromptu tunnel.

"Who?" she asked herself, but she did know him, from years ago. With almost a mutter she gave voice to his name and, feeling it to be right, she called out to him. "Ryo!"

"What?" Magnadramon said "But he's gone."

The boy looked up and even from a distance Hikari saw no recognition in his blue eyes. She had never felt her age as much as she did then. As the last of the original Chosen she wasn't burdened by time as the others were. Whether it was through her Crest, taking the robes of Gennai and succeeding him as part of his dying Order, or something else, she had no care. Only the job had mattered. Even though she still looked young for her age, counting in decades now though she only looked in her mid-twenties, she was startled to find him looking exactly the same as when he disappeared.

The confusion did not last long, showing her a genuine smile as recognition sank in. He waved at her, turning his back before she could think of a way to go to him. Resolutely he walked away, disappearing from the throne chamber. Without being told she knew she would never see him again, as she would never see any of the faces of the people from her youth. It was saddening, but also cause for joy. With what he took with him, at long last, her world was free.

* * *

When Ryo appeared back in the world of the ENIAC he was only surprised for a moment when, instead of Atanasoff he was back in the chamber of the ENIAC itself. The super computer was there, his manifestation as a sphere of light atop a pedestal. After everything he had seen was no real shock to find him still alive even when everyone outside had died to supply power to the portal.

Perhaps he should've felt anger at seeing the ENIAC whole, but this was now and that was then. Before going to the future the super computer had indeed been weak, that was not faked. With Millenniumon gone the past had started to set itself straight and with the past so would the future, all futures.

"It is done," Ryo said. Simple and to the point, he needed this to be over. He wanted to go back home, he needed to go back to the people he had left behind.

The ENIAC's sphere hummed softly. "Yes, and thanks to you peace has returned in the timelines. There are no more distortions; the destinies of the worlds will follow their natural course without any more intervention."

"What do we do with this," Ryo asked, stepping closer to his employer. "Should it be destroyed, to prevent Millenniumon from rising again?"

"No, that is the last thing we must do. He was right Ryo. He cannot die, not as long as you are alive. Destroying the egg will only release his spirit and things will develop as they have before. In an unsuspecting world he'll appear and you must go to stop him once again."

"Then what?" Ryo questioned, though he already believed to know the answer. It was a burden for life.

"The cycle can be broken right here. You must take care of him Ryo, he is your partner."  
Ryo shook his head. "He's a monster. He killed and destroyed countless lives for the fun of it."

"That I cannot deny, he is what he is, but with your guidance even he might be redeemed."

"That's a lot to ask for."

"But ask I must. It's not just him; Monodramon exists within the egg as well. What might be born from it even I can't tell, but it might not be the being you fear. I can feel the child's heart inside, even from here. Feel Ryo, in the egg's centre, he is there."

Pressing it against his ear Ryo listened for the heartbeat inside. Against his head the egg felt warm with at its centre a clear heartbeat. It did not feel wrong as Millenniumon did, so perhaps Monodramon was truly still alive in there.

"Fine," Ryo said, "I'll take care of him. So, what now? You're going to send me home?"

The silence that greeted him made his stomach crawl. It couldn't be, after all he had gone through, with his freedom now tethered to the egg in his hands, was he being denied his home as well?

"ENIAC?" Ryo demanded.

"I'm sorry Ryo, but your reality is the main reality. Only in that focal point could a being as Millenniumon, and yourself, be born. Not only is sending you back there with him a dangerous risk it would also take a considerable amount of power to reintegrate you. Power I no longer possess. My time is coming to an end; from this moment on I'll be dormant and unable to act. Millenniumon's war took its toll; I'm no longer active in the real world. And soon I'll be present only here.

"What do you mean; you could send me to those other realities just fine, how is this different?" Ryo said.

"You were a guest there and none of those worlds was permanent. This one is and time has already adjusted itself to your absence. Time is fluid, but if you were put back before you left it could create a dangerous paradox, I'm no longer able to send you there with any kind of precision and if something went wrong I can no longer fix it. I'm sorry Ryo, the risks are too great." ENIAC seemed genuinely apologetic, but that wasn't going to do him any good.

"So what about me?" Ryo asked.

"There's a reality, similar to your own, where I can send you. Perhaps in the future a way will be opened for you to return to your own reality, but until that time it is my belief you can be happy there."

"Do I have a choice?" There was no disguising the bitterness in his voice.

"Farewell Ryo."


	37. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

* * *

A gentle breeze ruffled the leaves of the thinning tree line as the forest turned to mountain. Pessimistically he saw the change as the border of death, with him on the wrong side of it. Absentmindedly, and getting annoyed with his thoughts, he kicked a small pebble away. His malaise did not go unnoticed by the two digimon keeping him company in front of the opening in the mountainside. The three of them were the only ones who hadn't gone in yet and aside from him they wouldn't either. Despite assurances of safety they wanted to stand guard. After all that had happened he thought it only prudent.

"Are you all right? Perhaps you should have stayed in the house?" Thundermon asked.

"Perhaps you should join the others inside?" Tsukaimon grinned. The Child didn't lack in self-confidence even after being defeated at the Coliseum. "With the two of us here no one will enter this place."

"I'm fine," Ken answered. Again they were looking at him as if he was far from fine, but let it go at that. For two weeks he had been in a coma, so he was told. Ken took their word for it, he remembered nothing of it. Not even the pain he had been in. He wouldn't even know about that if Wormmon hadn't accidentally mentioned it.

Someone had decided that his recovery was best helped without that bit of knowledge. Gennai most likely and maybe he had the right of it. Yet Ken couldn't help but feel disturbed that things of importance were kept from him. Knowing or not knowing he had been in pain was of no real concern, but he had to wonder what else – if anything – was being kept from him.

Suspicion was gnawing at him more and more; he even started to doubt Wormmon during the worst of his dark spells and he hated himself for it immediately after.

No one knew how he felt, if he was behaving oddly it was because of the trauma and the coma, but none of them was very comfortable with the cold front he now often projected. Truthfully neither was he, but it was hard to feel happy these days, very hard.

"But I think I will join the others now. I imagine they'll want to begin soon."

Without waiting for an answer Ken marched inside the cave, idly scratching at his neck. He was quick to reach the end of the cavern, a large chamber where it was as light as the outside under a midday sun. Near the far wall his partner, Gennai, Piccolomon, and Turuiemon were waiting near a sort of dais in the rock. Off to the side Bearmon was watching them all, not feeling as if he truly belonged there. Ken knew how that felt, but he wasn't sympathetic – digimon were digimon, and he was the only human there.

They were waiting for him to say goodbye to the friend Turuiemon had lain down on the plateau. At the sight of them his hand dropped back to his side, away from his neck, completely unaware. With slow steps he approached. No matter how softly he tried to walk the reverberation was loud in his ears, too loud in this time of silence.

The rock underneath V-mon was visible through his ghastly transparent body, dissolving into static at unpredictable intervals. No life seemed to stir inside of him anymore. Gennai said he still did, though his code was almost completely corrupted. Since his fall V-mon hadn't spoken a word, hadn't even come close to being conscious. The survivors of the coliseum had set a gruelling pace, at Piccolomon's directions, for Gennai. Part of Ken was glad for it; given how he looked V-mon had to be in tremendous pain were he awake. Maybe he was, even right now, and no one could tell.

"Are you all right?" Wormmon scuttled closer, but Ken waved him off. With some difficulty he managed to keep himself from scowling. His partner meant well, but the continued questions concerning his wellbeing were beginning to grate on him. He didn't mean anything by it, Ken thought vigorously, chanting it in his head like a mantra all the way to V-mon.

He was supposed to say something, but for the life of him he couldn't think of anything that seemed at all fitting. The others must have already said their goodbyes, however briefly. Wormmon's would be shy and soft-spoken, Turuiemon's stoic, and Gennai's…he couldn't imagine what Gennai might have said.

Ken swallowed. "You were a brave 'mon, I don't know how I can put it differently. You stuck with Ryo till the very end and I can't think of many who would except for the few of us here now." His voice turned hard. "It shouldn't have been this way, but you gave it your all. I think I can honestly say you were the best this world had to offer." The others nodded their assent. Ken was done; saying anymore came too close to thinking about Ryo. At least V-mon was still there, after a fashion, but of Ryo there had been no sign. He knew the others believed him to be dead and he had no way of refuting them. The final blast wasn't something a human could survive, or so he'd been told. And he knew just how much they'd been telling him.

Ken stepped back and nodded to Gennai. From the folds of his clothes the old man took out an odd shape. It was an egg, with a bright yellow and red motive of flames, with a horn sticking out. Gennai held it over V-mon. None but Gennai could know what to expect so they watched closely. V-mon and the egg glowed for a moment and then the egg became too heavy for the old man to hold. With a sound crash it struck the stone plateau and would've crushed V-mon had the fallen digimon still been there. All that remained in his place was the Digimental of Courage.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Ken turned to Gennai.

"Sure? Who can be sure of anything with utmost certainty in this world?" Gennai shrugged at the stares aimed at him. His flippant demeanour didn't amuse them in the slightest. "I'm positive it will save his life, but as you can see he has degraded an awful lot. More than anything I have ever seen. Now, the Digimental will keep him safe and imprint some of its own essence onto him, replacing the parts of his body that have been damaged. In time, when the Digimental is lifted by the rightful Chosen his body will be restored to what it should be."

"His body," Turuiemon said thoughtfully, "You make a pretty fine distinction between 'him' and 'his body'."

"Yes, well, the damage is quite severe. Fixing up bodies is one thing, but the mind is something else altogether. If his memories are wiped, there is no way for anything, not even a Sovereign, to restore them. I don't think. Physically he'll be fine, but mentally I really can't tell. Everything, from his memories to his core personality, may be gone. He'd be like a newborn."

"So, the V-mon we know is dead," Ken surmised.

"It may be so, but keep holding on to hope young Ken," Gennai said. "Always hold on to hope."

Ken didn't seem to hear; with their business done he simply turned on his heels and stalked out.

* * *

Wormmon sighed, going after his partner slowly. He turned to Turuiemon, and asked the question that lay heavily on his mind. "So, what are you going to do now?"

For himself, now that the disruption between the two worlds was close to fixing itself, he had to come to grips with the truth. Soon Ken would go home, leaving him behind.

"We have made a promise to a lost friend and we will honour it. There's a murderer most foul on the loose out there and he must be found." Turuiemon shrugged. "After that, who knows, we'll continue to travel I suppose, doing what is right. With Ryo we learned the world is larger than we ever believed and full of digimon in need. It's the least we can do in Ryo's memory."

"Ryo's not dead," Ken said, his back still turned to them. "You all think he is, but I know he's not. Nothing can kill him. He's probably still on a great adventure."  
"Ken," Turuiemon ventured slowly. Ken turned around and the look he gave them silenced anything Turuiemon was considering saying.

"I know there's no basis for any of it, but I believe it. He's the best Chosen there is, better than I could ever hope of being. As long as there's a Digital World there will be someone who needs Ryo's help, and he'll be there to give it. It doesn't matter how long he stays gone, I'll never believe he won't return. One day, you'll see, he'll be there, a new digimon on his side, saying 'Hey, wait up, Ken', and I'll know he's back. I believe this, so much, I need to believe it."

"Ken," Wormmon tried to say, but his partner had already run off. For his partner's sake, and perhaps for the whole world, he hoped Ryo would indeed return, and soon. Wormmon wondered, if Ken was right, where was Ryo now? He liked the picture Ken painted for them, another great adventure, now wasn't that nice?

* * *

The beast was formidable, its chitinous exoskeleton shining silver, transparent wings hidden underneath a protective layer of the exoskeleton. Large pincers held the strength to squash, or rend, or tear, almost anything the giant bug might encounter. Most opponents saw them as a danger only as long as the twin shears held you between them, but they could do a lot of damage by opening up, instead of clamping down, when embedded in the flesh of an enemy. Ryo knew this all to well, it was what he had used in battle with great success. For what he had in mind now though the beast was of little use.

With a flick of his fingers Kokuwamon's card fell on the pile of rejected cards on his desk. Most of those cards had served him well, but he was selecting them based on different rules now. Ryo grinned; he was selecting them based on rules now, when before he had the freedom to do whatever he wanted.

Before looking at the next card he looked over his room, as he had countless times already. If there was any difference, no matter how small, to his room back home – back in the primary reality, he amended, for now, this was home – he was yet to find a single flaw. His desk, his bed, his closets, his laptop, everything was there as it should.

And that was exactly the problem, the damned near-perfect similarity continued to feel wrong to him. The feeling was fading, slowly, but it was still there. Perhaps in time he could call this home. Even so, he left his laptop off, left every possible connection to the Digital World off.

"If that's so, why am I still hanging on to these cards?" Ryo muttered to himself. "But I can't slack off, not with you around, can I?" He looked at his bed and the egg wrapped in his sheets in such a way that he could see it, but for people entering his room it wouldn't be immediately noticeable.

Somewhere in the house his father was working. Since coming back the older man hadn't left the house. The ENIAC had brought him to a world where he had an existence, but where his counterpart had disappeared. It had been late when he had arrived at the house and met his father, and yet not his father.

Like everything else this world resembled his home world strongly. Yet there were differences, he thought while looking at a discarded phonebook. One of the first things he had done, after making peace with the father that was not his father, was to look up Ken's address. But there was no Ichijouji family in Tokyo, no Ken. On a whim he had tried to find any of the other Chosen, but they didn't exist here either.

He flicked another card to his discard pile and set the rest down. Picking up a piece of paper, an advertisement, he felt his heart race and wondered what was wrong with him. For so long he had tried to go back home, to get away from the fighting and the killing, but now that he was he longed for those days. He had never realized how boring and restricted – his father, understandably granted, didn't leave him out of his sight for very long – real life was compared to the Digital World.

He had been on a leash there, by Gennai, the Sovereigns, ENIAC, and even in a way by Millenniumon. Being made to fight for them, do their bidding. For the greater good, granted, even if he no longer quite saw the distinction between the two sides as clearly as before. And despite all that, he had never felt freer and with Millenniumon defeated and under his care the Digital World was open to him.

Ryo hadn't activated his laptop yet, not because he wanted so much to stay where he was but of fear that a gate wouldn't open for him. Or, that it did. "If I left I doubt I'll ever return."

So he looked at the leaflet in his hand, for a tournament called D-1. Digimon were known in this world, but as a game, a card game. How delightfully ironic, he had been tricked into the D-1 Tournament before and now he was entering voluntarily. So he flicked through his deck, making plans, devising strategies. Perhaps this tournament could sate the thirst for excitement.

"Ryo!" his father called out. "I'm going to get something to eat, you want anything?"

"Some Ramen will do," Ryo answered, considering. "Wait a moment, I'll come with you."

The Digital World had set his heart free and he found it hard to abide the cage of everyday life. He still had the egg to take care of though; so long as it was there he wouldn't go. But, once it was born, and a digimon, perhaps even _him_, was unleashed upon the Earth he might just have to disappear once again.

* * *

Slowly Osamu walked back to his room, a sense of guilt both driving his feet on as it did impede them. Perhaps he had been too harsh with his younger brother this time. Ken might step to mother and tell on him, but he was hardly worried about that. His mother and father were besotted with him, at what he could do. He was the pride of their family and wouldn't punish him. It couldn't be easy for Ken, he thought, always having to live in his shadow. He thought of that some times, not often, as other things continued to hold his attention, but he did think about it.

"He's just a kid," he said to himself. There was no care of being overheard; the two boys were home alone. And he did have a slight habit of talking to himself when he was alone, and even when he wasn't. It was a way of ordering his thoughts, reason through them. "I'll take him out to blow bubbles, he seems to enjoy that. One thing he is better at than I am, even if it is a worthless activity."

Pleased with himself he walked a bit faster, but as he neared the door to his room his spirits dropped. A bright light shone through the crack below the door, only for a second but it was unmistakable. That couldn't be as he had left his room darkened when he left. So, Ken hadn't listened to him after all. Angrily he stormed inside. How many times did he have to tell his brother to stay away from his stuff? Nothing he had was meant for children and some things could easily break.

For a moment he halted in the door opening, illuminating his room with the light from the hall. Everything seemed to be the way he left it; his computer was still on, the monitor on stand-by. The desk was undisturbed and none of the books in his closets seemed to be moved. Something had to have happened; he had not imagined the light. Finally he looked at his brother, standing not far from the desk. Ken didn't seem to notice him, looking downcast at the floor. Again he felt that moment of guilt of having treated him harshly, but then he noticed the device in Ken's hand. The one that had come from the computer, before he had put it in his desk drawer with explicit instructions that it had to be left alone, and it was in his brother's hand.

"Ken, what did I tell you about touching my things," Osamu said. Before he knew it he had his hands around Ken's arms, holding him a bit more roughly than he should. In his anger he hardly noticed how cold his brother felt to the touch. "You could've broken something, you could've got hurt! I'd be the one to blame for that, not you. What do you have to say for yourself? Why do you continue to break my trust? You have to learn some responsibility; you can't stay an ignorant child forever."

As if he just now realizing someone was there with him Ken raised his head. Whatever Osamu might've been thinking of was forgotten in that very instance. Little fazed Osamu, he could reason through everything – he thought he could reason through everything – but for the second time that day he was looking at something he couldn't understand. First that strange device, even now held in Ken's hand, and now his brother himself. He had never seen such cold indifference in anyone's eyes, let alone his brother's. Ken was looking at him as if he wasn't there.

Osamu only became aware his grip had slackened when Ken shrugged it off and went for the door. Mechanically Osamu turned to keep watch on Ken. Halfway out of the room Ken stopped and rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. His brother hardly seemed aware he was doing it.

Abruptly Ken turned his head and the indifference had turned to anger. He was clutching the device in his hand so much Osamu thought it was going to break.

"What do you know?" he hissed. All of a sudden it seemed something clicked in Ken's head, showing Osamu a side of him he never knew was there. "I hate you brother, I wish you'd just disappear!"

Ken stormed out, leaving Osamu behind in a dazed crouch. He had warned Ken not to touch that device, in case it harmed him. Not only because he would be the one his parents blamed, but because he would blame himself. "What happened to you Ken?"

* * *

**Afterword**

* * *

It's hard to believe it's been six years since I started working on this – I certainly hadn't intended for it to take so long. For those reading since the beginning, I applaud your resilience. And to everyone, thank you for reading and I hope it was enjoyable.


End file.
